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SOME MATERIALS 



SERVE FOR A BRIEF MEMOIR 



JOHN DALY BURK, 



AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HIS 
ONLY CHILD, 

JUDGE JOHIT JUN'IUS BUEK. 

EDITED BY 



CHAKLES CAMPBELL. 



^p^y^. 






I 








ALBANY, N. Y. : 
JOEL MUNSELL 

1868. 



\l 



PREFACE. 



When Burk undertook to write a Uhtory of Virginia, 
such a work was a desideratum. There were then several 
histories of detached periods, but there was no one compre- 
hensive history of the state. There were in existence many 
valuable historical documents and materials, which as yet 
had lain unnoticed and neglected. The time when Burk 
xindertook the task was opportune : the country had now 
recovered, in great measure, from the calamities of the 
revolutionary war, and its exasperations had subsided, and 
many readers now had both leisure and inclination to take 
a more deliberate retrospect of the past. It was time that 
there should be written a history of the state, which had 
given birth to Henry and Lewis, and Nelson and Mason, and 
Jefferson and Madison, and the Lees and Washington. 

■Smith's General History is the ground work of all suc- 
ceeding histories of Virginia, as his map is the prototype of 
all succeeding maps of Virginia. The second and sixth 
books of his history were composed by Smith himself; the 
third was compiled by the Rev. William Simons, doctor of 
divinity, and the rest of the work by Smith, from the letters 
and journals of about thirty different writers. 

The Rev. William Stith, a native of Virginia, married a 
sister of Sir John Randolph, and \i§s, some time president of 
William and Mary College. He composed his History of 



JV PREFACE. 

Virginia, at Yarina. on the James river. It was published 
in 1747. and entitled A Ilidorij of the Discovery and Set- 
tlement of Virginia, to the j/ear 1624. He was a classical 
scholar, a true patriot, and a most faithful chronicler. His 
work is, in the main, a digest of the miscellaneous documents 
published bj Smith, to which is added an account of the 
proceedings of the London company, in the management of 
the colony. It is a subject of regret, that this honest, accu- 
rate and judicious historian did not receive encouragement 
enough, to induce him to complete his excellent work down 
to his own times. He died in 1755. 

Robert Beverley was born in Virginia, and educated in 
England. • The first edition of his History of Virgin ia^'was 
published at Loudon, in 17U5, and in the same year an 
edition was issued at Am.^terdam. The second English 
edition was published at London, in 1722. It differs but 
little from the first. The first book, the civil history of the 
colony, is brief, partisan and unsatisfoctory, yet, perhaps, 
was sufficient to gratify the curiosity of the readers of that 
day. The second book, which treats of the natural history 
and productions of A'irginia. is full, but deals no little in 
panegyric, as is usual with colonists, whose imagination is 
excited by the striking phenomena of a new region, and 
who, possessing vast tracts of uncultivated land, desire to 
attract immigrants to their country. The third book gives 
a full and minute account of the manners and customs of 
the Indians, and is illustrated by Gribelin's engravings. 
The fourth book gives a satisfactory account of the state 
and condition of Virginia, for which the author was very 
competent, having been long conversant with the records 
of the colony. 

• 

' He married Ursula, daughter of William Bvrtl of Westover. 



PREFACE. V 

Sir William Keith, a governor of Pennsylvania, vras a 
cotemporary of Spotswood, governor of Virginia. His work 
is entitled : The History of the British Plantations in 
America. Part I. Containing the History of Virginia.^ with 
Remarks on the Trade and Commerce of that Colony. From 
this it appears, that he intended to compile a series of colo- 
nial histories, but that of Virginia is the only one which he 
actually published. It was published at London, in 1738. 
He brings the narrative down to 1723, the close of Spots- 
wood's administration. His style is good; his matter is 
drawn almost entirely from Stith and Beverley. 

Besides Smith, Stith, Beverley and Keith, Burk, in his 
first volume, made use of the Records of the London Com- 
pany^ which he says, fell into his hands by accident, but 
Hening says that they were lent to him by John Randolph 
of Roanoke, to whom they belonged. Burk's first volume 
comprises a period of eighteen years, ending with the disso- 
lution of the London company, in 1624. 

His second volume closes in 1710. The principal authori- 
ties referred to in it, are Beverley, and certain manuscript 
records, originally compiled by Hickman, clerk in the oflBce 
of the secretary of the colony, for the use of Sir John Ran- 
dolph, who, at one time, meditated writing a history of 
Virginia, which purpose, however, he did not carry into 
execution. 

The Hickman manuscripts were subsequently made use 
of by Hening, in the compilation of The Statutes at Large 
of Virginia.'^ Burk had also in his possession Colonel 
Byrd's Journal, in a manuscript volume. He does not 
appear to have had access to Chalmers's Political Annals 



'See article by William Green, Esq., on Stith 's History of Vir- 
ginia, in Southern Literary Messenger, September, 1863. 



VI 



PREFACE. 



a rare and valuable authority, published in one folio volume, 
in 1782. 

In bis third volume, Burk cites but few authorities, and 
his narrative gradually widens into a history of the thirteen 
colonies, rather than of Virginia alone. However, the 
revolutionary story was abruptly interrupted by his prema- 
ture death, and comes down no farther than to the year 
1775. 

Petersburg, Ya., January 4, 1868. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In October, 1866, William Green, Esq. of Richmond, 
Va., communicated to me some memoranda, whicli lie liad 
made witli a view to tlie preparation of a memoir of John 
D. Burk, author of a History of Virginia^ requesting, that 
I should combine his communications with such other facts 
as might be in my possession, or might be accessible to me, 
and prepare them for the press. I undertook the task, but 
rather reluctantly, as the facts regarding Burk, in my pos- 
session, were but few and meagre, and I much preferred 
that Mr. Green should himself go on to execute the plan 
which he had originated. 

Recollecting, some time afterwards, my having heard that 
Judge Burk, the only child of John D. Burk, was still 

N 

surviving, in Louisiana, I wrote to make iu(|uiry respecting 
him, and learned that the judge had died in 1866, at Baton 
Rouge, leaving a widow, several daughters, and a son. I 
addressed a letter to one of the daughters, Miss Junia A. 
Burk, made known to her my design, and requested her to 
communicate to me any information that might be in her 
possession, regarding her grandfather. She complied with 
my request, in the most attentive and obliging manner, and 
this, although, during our correspondence, she suffered 



8 INTRODUCTION. 

another bereavemeut, in the loss of her mother, whereby 
she was involved in increased domestic cares. I have 
published her communications in the form in which they 
were received, my design being, not to prepare a memoir, 
but only to collect some materials for one. Indeed, her 
letters were so well expressed, though written with a running 
pen, that I could hardly have altered their phraseology 
without impairing their interest. 

Some account of Judge Burk appearing to appertain 
properly to the subject, I made some inquiries of Miss Burk 
in regard to her father. Her replies, on this head, will be 
found not the least interesting part of her communications. 

C. C. 



JOHN DALY BURK. 



Co-py of a letter from Miss Junia A. Burk. 

Baton Rov^'ge, August 2, 1867. 

Mr. Campbell, 

Sir: Yours of July 19, came duly to hand, 
and I make it a pious duty, as well as a plea- 
sure, to afford you all information in my power 
respecting my much beloved ancestor, John D. 
Burk. I have some few facts relative to his 
private life, hut they are very disconnected, and 
I fear will be of little use to you, unless you 
are already in possession of dates, which may 
connect the limited knowledge of the circum- 
stances of his private life, now in my possession. 
The short episode, which I am able to detail to 
you, I have often heard from my late father's 
own lips, who ever entertained a lively remem- 
brance of and sincere regret for his father. 

John Daly Burk was a native of Ireland, 
born of respectable parents, claiming descent 



1 JOHN DA L Y B URK. 

from an ancient family of the country, of the 
house of Clanricarde. While very young, he 
was placed at Trinity College, Dublin, by an 
uncle (whether by the father, or mother's side, 
is not known), and there remained until he was 
eighteen years of age, when he contracted a 
private marriage with a lady of quality, by 
whom he had one son. Of the final destiny of 
this lady and her child, nothing was known to 
my father; but it is to be inferred, that they died, 
as the subject of the following sketch afterwards 
married, in Virginia, the widow Curtis,^ nee 
Borne. Under these circumstances, while hold- 
ing secret intercourse with his wife, he also 
became connected with the secret political cabals 
then so ardently and enthusiastically entered 



1 She had two sons, Henry and Benjamin. Henry was a 
physician, and naarried a sister of John Tyler, sometime 
president of the United States. Dr. Curtis settled at Han- 
over town, in Hanover county, Ya., about the year 1818, and 
practiced medicine in that county, for near half a century. 
He was a man of talents, of cultivated mind and estimable 
disposition, and remarkable for his decision of character. 
He had a son named Tyler: another son, Armistead, is now 
living in the vicinity of Richmond, Va. 

Benjamin Curtis, brother of Henry, was a lawyer at 
Petersburg, in 1808. 



JOHN DAL T B URK. 11 

into by the Irish gentlemen of the day, and 
continued in connection with the proscribed 
party until the untimely discovery of their 
plans forced him to Hy the country. 

The circumstance which obliged him to fly 
was an attempted rescue of a rebel while being 
led to execution, which, at the instigation of 
Burk, backed by twenty-nine others, young 
gentlemen, who were sitting on the steps of 
Trinity at the time, was very nearly accom- 
plished, when the police came up and dispersed 
them. Burk being a commoner, and already in 
disrepute with the party in power, was forced 
to fly for his life ; and being hotly pursued by 
the police, escaped through a bookseller's shop, 
where his dog kept them at bay until he was 
supplied with woman's apparel by one of the 
inmates of the house, a Miss Daly (which, by 
the way, is the only reason for his bearing that 
name, as he afterwards retained it through a 
romantic sense of gratitude towards the person 
who rendered him this service). Escaping 
from thence, he got on board of a ship then in 
port, and bound for America, to which country 
he sailed and arrived in safety, about the end 



12 JOHN DAL Y B URK. 

of the term of the administration of the elder 
Adams. 

Fresh difficulties now assailed him, as the 
British government was then claiming her 
citizens under the alien and sedition laws, and 
Burk, having become odious to the president 
through his connection with a gentleman by 
the name of Smith, who had also incurred his 
excellency's displeasure, was warned by one of 
his friends to remove to Virginia, where he 
would meet with a liberal reception, if he lost 
no time in removing to that state.^ 

Having fairly escaped these difficulties, he 
adopted the liberal and enlightened principles 
of the framers of the American constitution, and 
entering into the views of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, with that fervor 
which could be best felt by the down trodden 
sons of Erin, he commenced in Virginia a semi- 
political and literary career, which he creditably 
sustained up to the time of his death. 



^ I have sent you ia another envelope a criticism by the 
president on one of n'ly grandfather's dramas, to which my 
father has added a note in defense of his parent's memory, 
as a literary character, which I am happy to see gives some 
dates and confirms the facts already in my possession. 



JOHN DALY B URK. \ 3 

It was on his way to Virginia, that he met 
with the widow Curtis [alias Christiana Borne) 
in Boston, whom he afterwards married, and by 
whom he had one son (my father). 

Meeting with a warm reception from the 
hospitable and chivalrous gentry of Virginia, he 
adopted that state as his own, and became, 
heart and soul, an American citizen. Appre- 
ciating in a high degree the generosity of the 
people, who took the houseless wanderer to 
their hearts and homes, he endeavored to requite 
their kindness by writing the history of that 
section of country, whose liberal institutions he 
had so much reason to admire. I have been 
told by my father, that much of this history 
was written on stray pieces of paper, found lying 
about his writing-desk, on returning from some 
convivial party, and in like manner many fugi- 
tive poems and comedies. 

The melancholy circumstances of his duel 
with M. Cocquebert, I have all in printed form, 
taken from the Petersburg Gazette, Saturday, 
April 23, 1808, which I will send jon, with as 
much more information as I can gather, as soon 
as I know that you have received this. I am 



14 JOHN DA LY B URK. 

also in possession of McCreery's Collection of 
Irish Miisic, in which there are a numlDer of 
songs by John D. Burk, adapted to the airs 
therein contained. 

Hoping soon to hear from you, 

I remain, your most obedient, 

JuNiA A. Burk. 



John Adams's Critique. 

" In the last number of the Record of the Boston 
Stage published in the Boston Gazette, allusion 
is made to Burk's play of Bmiker Hill, and the 
following anecdote is related : ' The play of 
Bunker Hill was also performed in New York ; 
President Adams being in the city was invited 
to attend, and at the conclusion of the piece, 
he was conducted by the managers and lead- 
ing actors, to his carriage, with considerable 
pomp and show. Mr. Barrett, who had acted 
General Warren, ventured to express the 
hope, that the president had been pleased. 
^ Sir,' replied Mr. Adams, ' My friend, General 
Warren, was a scholar and a gentleman, but 
your author has made him a bully and a 



JOHN DAL Y B URK. 15 

blackguard.' Mr, Adams's critique was at 
once concise and correct." 

The above is a paragraph cut out of a news- 
paper, entitled The Dollar Newspaper, of October 
27, 1852, and was productive of the following 
note by my father (Judge John Junius Burk), 
inserted, in the Hy-leaf of a copy of the Sup- 
pressed History of the Administration of John 
Adams, by John Wood,^ in which, by referring 
to chapter vii, page 162, will be found an expla- 
nation of the circumstances, which led to that 
gentleman's unbiased criticism, and will also 
throw some light on the information contained 
in my letter of August 2, 1867. 

"Burk 163, infra? [A reference to the page 



1 Wood at one time edited a paper at Petersburg. 

2 From The Suppressed Historij of the Administration of 
John ^Adams (from 1797 to 1801, as printed and suppressed 
in 1802), by John Wood, author of the Historij of Switzer- 
land, etc., pp. 162-3. 

" Dr. James Smith and Mr. Burk of New York, the 
former a citizen, and the latter an alien, were among the first 
who were arrested upon the sedition act. They were the 
editors of a newspaper called The Time-Piece, and had 
inserted a paragraph which did not meet with the approba- 
tion of the president." * * ^ * - 

" Burk knowing, as he was an alien, that he would not only 
receive the punishment which a federal court would gene- 



16 JOHN DAL Y B URK. 

of Wood's Suppressed History in which Burk is 
mentioned.] My father, an Irishman, had just 
taken refuge in this country, from British des- 
potism in Ireland, tempore '98. He, while a 
student at Trinity College, Dublin, and a 
number of other students, were spectators of an 
Irishman, captive in the hands of the British sol- 
diery, going to drum-head execution. Burk cried 
out on the steps of the college to the other stu- 
dents, loitering there, for any of them, an Irish- 
man, to follow him to the rescue. It was done. 
He had to fly for his life, was pursued into a 
bookseller's shop, his Irish wolf dog keeping the 
constabulary at bay, until, attired in woman's 
clothes, he escaped from the back of the house, 
and embarked as Miss Daly, a name which 
he retained afterwards. The other students, 
young men of quality, made their peace with 
the government ; my father, a poor scholar and 
commoner, educated at his uncle's expense, fled. 



rally bestow, but be afterwards compelled to leave the 
United States, thought it most prudent to take himself oif, 
without waiting for the issue of a trial, llic Time-Piece 
was, in consequence, dropped, and this being the point which 
Mr. Adams wished to accomplish, the trial of Dr. Smith 
was never brought forward." 



JOHN DAL Y B URK. 17 

These facts were known to the president, and 
it was determined to hand Burk over to a British 
frigate, then lying off Boston, where he would 
have been hung to the yard-arm. Col. Aaron 
Burr got wind of the purpose, and notified my 
father, whose escape he facilitated to Virginia. 

The extract from the newspaper — Adams's 
critique on the play — is natural to the man's 
character, who, however, seemingly a republican 
in the revolution, reserved the monarchical bias 
in his heart, and hoped for it in the country. 
Burk was obliged by his history and the drama, 
to make Warren speak and act the revolution- 
ary soldier. This, in the estimation of Adams, 
is acting like " a bully and a blackguard." I 
have read the play : it is not a deliberate effort of 
the author, but was thrown off rapidly, upon the 
requisition of the theatre for a national play, 
whefi politics ran high. Besides, it was a 
matter of course that the president, who had 
persecuted the author (see page 163) [of Wood's 
Suppressed History] should not value his work. 
There is a natural consistency between the 
vulgar criticism of the drama and the ruffianly 
censorship of the press, by John Adams, who 



1 8 JOHN DAL Y B URK. 

hated liberty, even its real presence in the 
press." 

P. S. If you cannot procure a copy of the 
work, referred to in my father's note, T am able 
to supply it, if necessary : also the printed notices 
of his death, which I would desire to have 
returned, after inspection. 

I remain, sir, ' 

Your most obedient 

JuxiA A. BURK. 

P. S. I also send you the following letter, which 
I got my sister to copy from one inserted by my 
father, on the ^y lesii o^ McCreerys Songs. It 
can be of no other use than, perhaps, as it men- 
tions the names of some other Burks, whom 
you may know something of. 

JUNIA. 



Fi'om John Burk, Esq. 
Nachitoches, Locisiaka, IQth May, 1843. 

My Dear Sir, 

I feel much pleasure in sending you the lyrics 
of your able and lamented father. I have 



JOHX DAL Y B UBK 19 

learned that my brother Edward, himself a 
young man of fine poetical and oratorical talents, 
who died many years ago at Petersburg, Vir- 
ginia, a few months after his arrival in America, 
had collected some of the disjecta membra of 
your father's works, and it may be, that Wil- 
liam Burk of Richmond knows something about 
them. 

Regretting that I can throw no light upon 
the biography of a worthy relative of the great 
Edmund, I remain, dear sir, your faithful friend 
and servant. 

John Burk. 



Polar Star and Boston Daily Advertiser} 

The publication of a daily paper with this 
title was begun in Boston, October 6, 1796. 
The imprint stated that it was printed by 
Alexander Martin, for the proprietors, but no 
proprietors were mentioned. The editor was 
John Burk, a fugitive from Ireland, where he 
had exposed himself to the vindictive power of 



From Buckingham's Reminiscences^ vol. ll, pp. 294-300. 



20 JOHN DA L Y B URK. 

the government bj his connection with James 
Napper Tandy and others, of the band called 
United Irishmen. The first few numbers were 
on a crown sheet. It was then enlarged and 
printed on demy ; and in about six weeks 
appeared on a sheet of royal size. This, I 
believe, was the first attempt to establish a 
daily paper in Boston. The editor's opening 
address, and, in fact, all his editorials, indicate 
that he was master of a fervid style, and wrote 
with feelings intensely opposed to everything 
that was hostile to the liberty of speech and 
the press. After expressing his gratitude for 
the patronage his paper had received in advance, 
and descanting on the advantages of a daily 
paper, he proceeded to say : 

" This, fellow citizens, is a proof of the ad- 
vantages arising from a daily publication. I 
call you fellow citizens, for I too am a citizen 
of these states. From the moment a stranger 
puts his foot on the soil of America, his fetters 
are rent in pieces, and the scales of servitude, 
which he had contracted under European ty- 
rannies, fall oif ; he becomes a free man ; and ^ 
though civil regulations may refuse him the 



JOEF DAL Y B URK. 21 

immediate exercise of his rights, he is, virtually, 
a citizen. He sees a moral, intrepid and en- 
lightened community, ranged under the banners 
of equality and justice; and by the natural 
sympathy that subsists between the mind and 
everything that is amiable, he finds his affec- 
tions irresistibly attracted ; he resigns his jore- 
judices on the threshold of the temple of liberty ; 
they are melted down in the great crucible of 
public opinion. This, I take to be the way in 
which all strangers are affected, when they 
enter these states ; that I am so, will be little 
doubted when it is known how much I am 
indebted to their munificence and liberality. 
I shall give better proofs of it than words : 
there is nothing that I would not resign for 
your service, but what there is little fear I shall 
ever be called on to surrender — my gratitude 
and love of liberty." 

The election of a successor to President 
Washington, was a subject of great interest 
at that time. With more modesty than was 
exhibited by some foreigners, who had the 
control of presses in New York and Phila- 
delphia, Burk refrained from vulgar epithets 



2f2 JOnN DAL Y B URK. 

and personalities. In tliis second paper lie 
said : 

" Of the election of president we shall say 
nothing. We have promised impartiality ; we 
will keep our word. From an attachment to 
public liberty, we hope the future president 
may be as good a republican as Washington. 
Never has that venerable patriot been known 
to utter a sentiment favorable to royalty. The 
simile of the sublime Longinus may be applied 
to his resignation ; he appears like the sun in 
his evening declination ; though it loses its 
splendor, it retains its magnitude and pleases 
more, though it shines less. People of America ! 
with this great example of genius and patriot- 
ism before your eyes, you will be Avithout 
excuse, if you err. Let the man of your choice 
be a man of talent, information, integrity and 
republican modesty 5 a lover not only of your 
constitution, but of liberty in general. He 
ought to be a friend of the revolutions of Hol- 
land and of France ; he ought to be a hater of 
monarchy, not onl}^ on account of the danger, 
but the absurdity of it ; he ought not to be 
willing to divide the people by any distinctions. 



JOHN DAL Y B URE. 23 

Americans should have but one denomination — 
the people." 

Burk's feelings were naturally strong against 
the British government, and, perhaps, almost as 
naturally, in favor of France. " France," he 
said, "goes on in the uninterrupted career of 
victory. On one side she is employed in regene- 
rating the degenerate sons of the old Romans. 
In Germany she trails the Austrian eagle in 
the dust, while the eye of the directory, like 
that of Alexander, is thrown with anxiety for 
worlds to conquer. England, under the iron 
sway of a profligate administration, exhibits the 
melancholy example to nations, of the dangers 
resulting from the too great security in the 
people. She fights like a desperate gamester, 
doubling stakes as she loses. The o-ame is 
almost run. The people are generous, brave, 
honest and unsuspecting ; when they open their 
eyes, the delusion vanishes." 

Burk's impartiality, at least so far as foreign 
politics were involved in controversy, is fairly 
illustrated by what follows : " The republic of 
America has been scarcely ever placed in so 
critical a political situation as at this moment : 



24 JOHN DAL Y B URK. 

her commerce, on one side invaded by a Macliia- 
velian government, which, in defiance of the 
most solemn treaties, continues to take their 
vessels and impress their seamen ; on the other 
side, menaced by a people, who, from the nature 
of their government, ought to be, and we hope 
still are, the friends of America, but who con- 
ceive themselves injured and insulted by the 
treaty with England ; we hope and believe, that 
the men, who voted for and against this treaty, 
are alike friendly to the constitution of America 
and the liberties of mankind ; and we abhor 
that gloomy and monastic s^^stem of politics, 
which condemns to the Inquisition and Bastile, 
those who happen to differ in opinion. TJw 
Polar Star, like a stern and impartial tribunal 
of criticism, shall be open to the reasoning on 
both sides ; but it will hear only reasoning. It 
will curb the spirit of faction ; silence the 
clamors of revenge ; and heal the wounds of 
the unfortunate, who have been, or shall be, 
under the delusion of error." 

In the paper succeeding that in which the 
preceding extract appeared, after half a column 
of prudent and judicious remarks, upon the 



JOHN DAL Y B URE. 25 

neutrality and impartiality of the Star, he says. 
'' Two compositions were sent to the office for 
insertion, the one ' A Federalist,' the other ' A 
Patriot of '76.' Both were party pieces. Both 
were violent. We excluded both." He states 
that the authors took umbrage at the neglect, 
and sent impudent letters, one calling him a 
royalist, and the other, a Jacobin. He says : 
" Both lie. One threatens, to attack the editor 
in the Chronicle : the other means he shall be 
bandied about in the Centinel. We probably 
have done them a service, by refusing them a 
place in our paper, as they were grossly and 
shamefully deficient in orthography, etymology, 
syntax and prosody. Their behavior appears 
to us the surest proof of the Stars impartiality." 
In some of the early numbers of the Star, 
Burk published an account of his trial and 
defence before the board of the University of 
Dublin, on a charge of deism and republicanism. 
The writings, which were a cause of this charge, 
were published in the Dublin Eveni7ig Post, a 
paper of great reputation, which strongly advo- 
cated the cause of the people against the crown. 
The agents of the government discovered that 



26 JOHN DAL Y B URK. 

he was the author of the pieces, and used then' 
influence with the board to remove him from 
the university, and he was consequently ex- 
pelled. 

Tlie Polar Star and its editor were not 
treated with any superfluous degree of courtesy 
by their Boston contemporaries. Whether this 
was owing to jealousy of it's engrossing the 
public favor, or dislike to the intrusion of a 
foreigner into the pale of American editorship, 
or from some other cause, is not known. From 
some of its editorials, it appears, that it was 
attacked by the Chronicle, CeiUinel, and Mercury. 
In the course of a few weeks the editor pub- 
lished several articles, addressed, " To the editors 
of the several newspapers in Boston," concerning 
" the vices that existed in newspaper establish- 
ments." He said, " The period of election is 
ushered in by bickerings, by personalities, by 
feuds, by heart burnings, by animosity, by 
contentions and quarrels, which reflect a dis- 
grace on the amiable character of liberty, and 
are unworthy the literary advocates of a free 
people." 

Perhaps his neighbors did not relish this re- 



JOHN DAL Y B URK. 27 

buke — doubtless a very wliolesome one — from 
one, who had just left his native country, to 
escape the consequences of too much freedom 
of speech. There is nothing, however, in the 
editorial columns of the Star, which merits a 
similar rebuke. 

Like many other editors — some not unknown 
at the present day — the publishers of the Star 
boasted frequently of the great amount of pub- 
lic patronage bestowed on their labors. This 
may sometimes be a successful finesse to procure 
support, but is rather dangerous and hardly an 
honorable experiment. The Star of October 
25th, said : " Tlie Polar Star has gained by 
its impartiality, in fourteen days, two hundred 
and thirteen new subscribers. It has lost 
, two, because it supported the federal con- 
stitution, and did not rave in favor of the 
ridiculous and absurd establishments of royalty 
and aristocracy ; and it has lost one, because, 
to use the philosophers own elegant language, 
it is a milk and water paper, wants tone, and 

does not flatter one party more than another. 

Majority for the Star two hundred and ten." 
In another paragraph it is said, " A great 



28 JOHN DA L Y B URK. 

philosopher, who inherits the science of Newton, 
the humanity of Rousseau, and the reasoning 
powers of Locke, was asked by a gentleman, to 
subscribe for the Star, and refused, because iJie 
editor was an Irishman" 

Burk was evidently chagrined at the silence 
of the Boston press, in regard to him and his 
paper. Two months after its first appearance, 
he said : " Whenever a new paper makes its 
appearance in Eurojoe, the established papers 
make honorable mention of their infant brother. 
They have, at least, the liberality to say : Such 
a jpaper made its appeai'ance on such a day, of 
such a month, of such a year. But the sublime 
sages and politicians, who compile the Boston 
papers, scorn to imitate such vulgar liberality ; 
they preserve the most profound and edifying 
silence on such occasions. If the parents of the 
Star had not been careful to register its birth, 
regularly, according to the rules of the church, 
in the temple of liberty, before its godfathers 
and mothers — the people — it might have died, 
and its existence been forgotten, before these 
statesmen would have deigned to notice the 
existence of such a reptile." 



JOHN DAL Y B URE. 29 

Encouraged by prospects of success and pro- 
bably by hopes of assistance, the proprietors of 
the Star proposed to pubhsh a semi-weekly paper, 
in connection with their daily publication, to be 
entitled : The Columbian Citizen : a Gazette for' 
the Continent. But the project was never exe- 
cuted. 

Notwithstanding all their self-congratulations 
and assurances to the public of gratitude for 
unprecedented favor, they were obliged to call 

■9 

upon their subscribers, for a fulfillment of the 
conditions of subscription, in order to enable 
them to keep the Star above the horiz,on. But 
all was ineffectual. I cannot tell the exact date 
of its setting ; but the date of the last I have 
seen, is February 2, 1797. If this was not the 
last number, the publication was discontinued 
in a short time after, and Martin, the jjrinter of 
it, was engaged in the printing of another news- 
paper, in Philadelphia. 

While in Boston, Burk wrote a tragedy called 
The Battle of Banher Hill, or the Death of Gene- 
ral Warren, which Avas performed a number of 
times at the Hay market theatre. For many 
years the managers of the Boston theatre used 



vrr^t'vty tht* -^ "■ ' >m ot' tho pit and gaUory. 

Xho ir;i,i;:^iv ; ?» |>iirtiole ot* merit, extvpt 

ilist l«v>vu\\ U wi»^ wriueu in (Hutak tvi-s*^, if » 
i\>ttHx^tk>i\. having no aitribuU^ of jxxHrw cvhiW 
be a> OiAlUxi- U wasi a:? dt^^tiUite erf' pUn ami 
dktinotne^ of cbawcter, as it w*s of all claim 
to poeirw 

Bui^L afkerwani was the txlitor ot' a political 
pa^vr, in New York, calUxl JV JTii*<s/V^y, and 
w;*s artvstcd c*i a charp> ».^' publishing a libeU 
contRurv to the pn>visions of the sedition law 
of 1 «^S, The i$sne of the a^r. I never knew. 
About the \v^ ISOO [1S06] it was leponed, 
that he wsis killed, in a duel, in one v>t" the 
Sow:' - - ^ 

lu - ftn^rof May 3Tth,lS0S, 

were '^ - . : ..x^ads lor publishing by 

sr.Vs^ the Amieat ami Jtodfrn Mttsic o/" 

with c«fisrinal son^ suited to the cha- 
racter, ami oxprei^ssive of its beautiful melodies, 
whidi will shi^rtly be issued by John McCreerj- 
auid Skelton Joutesv In the me^Mitime the feil> 
lowing ess;»y fnsn the pen of the late John D. 
Burk, c«i the Irish music, is given to the publie^ 



/0/AV hA L 7 H i:fiK t\ 

in tft^Hx ihnki the hjvhrii (A the f' 
particfi! ;*teani : ' 

be admitted into t.. . , — . ..,, 

the claiiri« of' Ireland to tlie me; .^ 

c^^Tftj:jr;«^rd tho«^ melodife* thiat bi^e^t^;'^: *?:^; ^r^irr 

"/. >i of tenderrr'?*» rtael£ or the gfc 

hilarity an- -r. etc,'' TIj^ 

; r of' nearly five colamn*, '. iK*- 

l//n//jJ. Effiifiy f/a ilte ClMfo/^iArf o,wl ArdvpMy of 
IriMh i<f/ftgff, by John D- Burk.^ 

In the lii/^mtf/fi/l Erifpiirer of yUaeh. 1S08, 
there appeared an orar 
brick church,^ in Vav-tsijufji, on itifXay. iuk 



* In a biograpfaieaJ sketeh of >f 

Fetenlmrg, Va-^ vliteh wa« ynbhitiedf not kwg iinec, in 

tbe Pf'J/^^Airfj Iwlex. th " - - .---...,-. 

ilcCr^yferj's work was - 

addjEf " it is one «f the b«a^ diseertati<i>D$ ezsast <>n Imh 

mime \n m ' ^ : t „ _ , ^ - 

niftmf>ir of I>r 

Cre«;Ty'« work saggeftted to tinfe poes >iif>f>re. tiie wiea o« kis 

/riifA 3Ido*Jim. 3Io*jTe w. ' " - - -' - -'- - 

who Vtifjm* 

doubt, the atUii'/f Oi iO*; fessaji. 

^ It stood where the Coart H ., ^ . . - ~ ... 



3 2 JOHN DAL Y B URK. 

4th of March, 1808, by John D. Burk; about 
four coUimns. This oration was dehvered five 
weeks before his death. 

In the Enquirer of May 6th, of the same year, 
is to be found an article of nearly the same 
length, signed B[enjamin] Curtis, giving an ac- 
count of Burk's duel with M Coquebert, which 
occurred on the 11th of April, 1808. The article 
is dated Petersburg, April 23, and is taken 
from the Petersburg Repuhlican, of that date. 

Apple ton's Cyclopcedia of Biography contains 
the following : " Burke, John Doly, author of a 
History of Virginia from its first settlement to 
1804, and of two dramatic pieces, entitled, BurJce's 
Hill, and Bethlem Gabor. He was a native of 
Ireland, and first came to America in 1807, 
where he edited some political newspapers in 
Boston and New York. He was killed in a duel, 
by a Frenchman, named Coquebert, in 1808." 

The statement that Burk came over to 
America, in 1807, is erroneous. He came over 
about ten years previous to that. The mistake 
may be typographical — perhaps for 1797.^ 



lie probably came over in 179G. 



JOHN DAL Y B UEK. 33 

Burk seems to have had some warm friends. 
It is said that John Randolph of Roanoke was 
attached to him. He, it is also said, was a 
regular and copious contril^utor to the Richmond 
Enquirer. 

Burk's History of Virginia, consists of four 
volumes, octavo. The tirst three were composed 
by Burk, himself, and are entitled, Tlie History 
of Virginia from its first settlement to the present 
day. These three volumes were printed in 
1805, at Petersburg, Virginia. Burk, falling 
in a duel, was prevented from completing the 
work. The fourth volume was printed by M. 
W. Dunnavant at Petersburg, in 1816. It is 
entitled, The History of Virginia, commenced by 
John Burk, and continued by Skelton Jones and 
Louis line Girardin. Only a small part of the 
volume, sixty-three pages, were written by Mr. 
Jones, who also fell in a duel. Girardin brings 
the narrative down to the year 1781. 

Acker Uscmcnt from the Richmond Enquirer., 1816. 

The History of Virginia: (commenced by Skel- 
ton Jones and L. H. Girardin) is now completed 
and read}' for delivery to subscribers. 



34 JOHN DA LY B UEK. 

A series of untoward and melanchoW circum- 
stances have long delaj'ed the publication of 
the above work, and its delivery to subscriljers. 
Soon after finishing three volumes of it, Mr. 
Burk was prematurely and fatally cut off, in 
the prime of life, and at a moment wdien his 
naturally powerful mind had derived additional 
vigor, from intense and vast researches, Mr. 
Skelton Jones was then induced to undertake 
the completion of the task ; but he died in the 
very threshold of that undertaking. Sixty-five 
pages only have issued from his brilliant pen ; 
and the printing of the part, written by Mr. 
Girardin, has been retarded by difficulties no 
less numerous than unexpected. 

The portion of the History of Virginia which 
fell to the lot of the last named gentleman, 
embracing the chief political, civil and military 
transactions of our great revolutionary period, 
is, from the very nature of the subject, entitled 
to national attention. There are in the human 
constitution, principles, which do not permit us 
to behold, without a deep and vivid interest, 
the arduous and glorious struggles, which his- 
tory often presents to our view. . We mean 



JOHN DAL Y B URK. 35 

those struo'o-les in which truth contended with 

CO 

error, virtue with profligacy, freedom with 
tyranny. We feel, even at this distant day, 
for repubhcan Greece, armed against the invad- 
ing myriads of Persia; for the United Nether- 
lands resisting the despotism and bigotry of 
in thralled and inthralling Spain; for the brave 
and virtuous Swiss, hurling defiance in the face 
of proud Austria. How powerfully then, must 
our .sympathies be excited, both as men and as 
citizens, when we see not ancient, nor foreign 
patriots, but our own beloved and revered fore- 
fathers, opposing with successful energy a 
systematic and wanton infringement of their 
natural and their chartered rights ; creating 
a new Ijody politic ; in short, establishing by 
their wisdom and cementing with their blood, 
that political independence and those civil and 
religious liberties, which we now so happily 
enjoy; and which, if we continue faithful to 
our high destinies, no power upon earth, no 
foreign hostility, no domestic intrigue shall 
ever wrest from our possession. Surely if the 
pencil of historj- has at any time delineated 
scenes calculated to attract our attention, and 



3 JOHN DA L i ' n L'RK. 

engage our sensibilities, such scenes are to 
be found in the present work. Let us add, 
that, in the prosecution of this Laudable under- 
taking, the continuator has been guided by a 
strict and undeviating regard for truth, ani- 
mated by an indefatigable ardor and research, 
and by a generous desire of perpetuating to the 
utmost of his individual exertions, that glorious 
spirit, those admirable and sacred principles, 
which dictated the measures and accomplished 
the exploits recorded in his narrative. He has 
brought to light a mass of interesting local facts ; 
detected and rectified errors of mischievous 
tendency, and all along adapted his style to the 
inherent grandeur and dignity of his su1)ject. 
The extracts from his part of the history, 
already before the public, must, we trust, justify 
our opinion ; and, indeed, we can produce in 
favor of the work, a testimonial of much higher 
authority than ours. Mr. Jefferson's extensive 
historical collection was kindly opened to the 
continuator's researches. That distinguished 
patriot, whose zeal and abilities were so early 
and so efficiently displayed in those yory scenes 
which Mr. Girardin undertook to retrace, has 



JOIIX DALY BURK. 37 

with his usual afiability, condescended to read 
the manuscript, and bestowed on it his approba- 
tion in the following words : 

" Thomas Jefferson returns to Mr. Girardin 
his manuscript, which he has read with great 
satisfaction. And must express, with sincerity, 
his peculiar gratification on seeing this portion 
of American history, that of his native state, so 
ably recorded for posterity." 

Other gentlemen, eminent in the literary 
world, have spoken in terms equally favorable 
of those parts of the coutinuatiori, which have 
been submitted to their judgment ; but we deem 
it unnecessary to say more on this head. The 
work is now before the public. Let it be tested 
by its intrinsic merits. 

Conditions. — The whole work is composed in 
four volumes, of a large octavo size, on fine paper, 
with a new and handsome type. The fourth 
volume contains about six hundred pages. 
The three first volumes fiill little short of that 
quantity. 

The original price was to be, to subscribers, 
three dollars per volume, neatly bound in 
sheep, and lettered, or two dollars and a half in 



38 JOHN^ DAL Y B UBK. 

boards. The present proprietors have deter- 
mined to reduce that price half a dollar per 
volume, as a small compensation for the una- 
voidable delay, which has taken place in pre- 
paring and bringing out the last volume. 

^|^g=^ The above work is deposited for de- 
livery at the bookstore of Mr. Fitzwhylson, 
where city subscribers can be supplied; those 
in the country will be waited on with it, by an 
agent appointed for that purpose. 

August 29. 

33tf. 

Girardin prepared material sufficient for an- 
other volume and meditated the publication of 
it, but the design appears never to have been 
carried into effect. It is somewhat remarkable, 
that in his preface to the fourth volume, he 
makes no allusion whatever to Jones, as one of the 
continuators, although the point of demarkation 
between the two, is indicated in a foot note, on 
page 63. Mr. Jones edited a paper at Richmond. 

A second edition of the first volume was pub- 
lished at Petersburg, in 1822. Printed by 
Dickson & Pescud, Bollingbrook street. 



JOHN DAL Y B UBK. 39 

From the Catalogue of the Private Libraru of T. li. 
MorcU, Neio York, 1866. 

74, Burk, John. The History of Virginia from 
its first settlement to the present day. With the 
Continuation by Skelton Jones and Louis Hue 
Girardin. Together 4 vols., 8vo. vols. 1, 2 and 
3, boards, uncut, rough edges. Vol. 4, sheep. 
Petersburg, Va., 1804-05-16. Excessively 
rare. 

This is probably the finest copy ever oftered 
for sale. The fourth volume is seldom met with, 
nearly every copy having been destroyed by fire, 
and I believe it is conceded to be an established 
fact, that no copy of this very rare volume exists, 
in the original boards, everj^ one having been 
bound. 

75, [Burk, John.] The Death of General 
Montgomery in storming the City of Quebec : a 
Tragedy. With an Ode in honor of the Pennsyl- 
vania Militia, who sustained the Campaign in 
the depth of Winter, 1777, and repulsed the 
British Forces from the Bank of the Delaware. 
Rare. Frontispiece, representing the death of 
Montgomery, engraved by Norman. Svo, pp. 



40 J(JJL\ DALY BUIiK. 

81, fialf morocco. Philadelphia, printed and 
sold by Robert Bell, 1777. 

This is one of the rarest of Mr. Burk's publi- 
cations, and the only copy I have met with. 
The plate is very curious, as an early specimen 
•Df American engraving. 

76, Burk, John. History of the Late War in 
Ireland, with an Account of the United Irish 
Association, from the First Meeting in Belfast, to 
the Landing of the French at Kilala. 8vo, 
boards, uncut, rough edges. Rare. Philadel- 
phia, 1799. 

Curious, as being one of the few writings of 
John Burk, author of The History of Virginia, 
etc. 

In Appleton's New American Gyclopoidia, vol. 
IV, pp. 122-3, there is a more accurate ac- 
coiuit of Burk than that which has been quoted 
from the Cydo^jaedia of Biography published by 
the same house, though this also mistakes his 
name in the same manner as that. "Burke, 
John Doly, author of one of the best histories 
of Virginia, born in Ireland, educated in Trinity 
College, Dublin; was killed in a duel with a 



JOim DALY BURK. ■ 41 

Frenchman near Cani[)beirs bridge, Va., April 
12, 1808. He came to this country, in 1797 : 
edited a newspaper at Boston, and, subsequently, 
another, in New York, where he was arrested, 
under the sedition law. He afterwards removed 
to Petersburg, Virginia, where he practiced law 
and wrote his history. He was the author of a 
few dramas on historical subjects ; one of them 
was entitled Burk's Hill. 

Allen, in \i\s American Biograpliical Dictionary, 
calls him John Doh^ Burke, perhaps a typograph- 
ical mistake for Dal}', and says, "he was a native 
of Ireland and educated at Trinity College, Dub- 
lin. Coming to America in 1797, he conducted 
for a short time a paper at Boston and afterwards 
at New York, where he was arrested under the 
sedition law. At the Boston theatre he was 
made master of ceremonies. He was killed in a 
duel with Felix Coquebert, a Frenchman, in con- 
sequence of a political dispute, April 12, 1808. 
He published an oration, delivered March 4, 1808. 

Dunlop, in his Hi'^torjj of the American. Theatre, 
appendix, under head of John Burk, gives the 



42 JOHN DAL Y B URK. 

following, in the list of American plays and 
their authors : Bunker Hill, Joan of Arc, 
Death of Montgomery, Fortunes of Argil, Inn- 
keeper of Abbeville, Bethlehem Gabor, Female 
Patriotism, Which do you like best, the Poor 
Man or the Lord? 

From AUibones Dictionari) of Autliors. 

Burk or Burke, John. The History of Vir- 
ginia from its first settlement to the present time; 
commenced by John Burk and continued by 
Shelton Jones and Louis Hue Girardin, 1804- 
1816 : seldom found complete, as almost all the 
copies of vol. IV, by Girardin, published in 1816 
were accidentally destroyed. Perhaps twenty 
or thirty copies of vol. iv may be in existence. 

Grahame, the author of the learned and ex- 
cellent Colonial History of the United States, in 
a note on page 88, of the first volume, sa3^s of 
Burk : " Tlie History of Virginia has derived 
the most valuable and important illustration, 
from the industry and genius of this writer. 
His style is defaced by florid, meretricious orna- 
ment." 



JOHN DA L Y B URK. 43 

Reminiscences of Dr. Thomas Pleasants Atkinson., of 
DanvHk, Virginia^ relating to Burk. 

John D. Burk was a native of Ireland, who 
left his motherland, under the ban of the go- 
vernment, on account of his opposition to ita 
arbitrary acts and vindictive persecution. He 
filled a large share in the public eye, having 
written and published, in 1804, three volumes 
of The Ilistory of Vii^ginia, bringing it down to 
the breaking out of the American revolution. 

Mr. Burk was captain of a Petersburg rifle 
company, which he raised, and went with it, to 
the seaboard, during the difficulties between the 
United States and Great Britain, which followed 
the capture of the ship Chesapeake hy the 
Leopard. 

Mr. Burk was high and lofty in his carriage, 
haughty in his manners, and imperious and 
impulsive in his disposition. He owes his 
early and sad death to this last and character- 
istic trait. Although haughty in his manners, 
strange to say, he exerted great influence over 
the young men of his day, literally leading 
them captive at his will. 



44 joh:s' I) a l y b urk. 

Among his intimate friends in Petersburg, 
were Thomas Boiling Robertson, afterwards 
governor of Louisiana, Townsend Stith, brother 
of Mrs. Robert Boiling of West Hill, John 
Monro Banister, a son of Colonel John Ban- 
ister of Battersea, and Roger Atkinson Jones, 
son of General Roger Jones. ^ 

There was then living in Petersburg another 
Irish refugee, one of the United Irishmen, John 
McCreery, a scholar and poet of genius. He 
published many fugitive pieces, among them. 
The American Star, the rival, in former days of 
Key's famous Star Spangled Banner. Burk, 
likewise, published many poetical effusions, 
mostly songs, his favorite of all which was 
Burk's Anna, which was on the lips of old and 
young in those days. He was also author of 



^ From anotlier reminiscent it is learned that Burk was a 
fine looking man, of medium stature ; well built, of im- 
posing presence. Coquebert was of middle size, well bred 
and intelligent. Both associated with the principal families 
in Petersburg. Burk's most intimate companion was Mor- 
ris Miller; Daniel Kppes was another associate, and Jack 
Baker, a lawyer, who was one of the counsel that defended 
Aaron Burr in 1807. Burk, like a good many other young 
lawyers of that day. hud but little practice in the courts. 



JOHN DA LY B URK. , 45 

several plays written for the Thespian Society 
of Petersburg. He sometimes personated his 
most important characters, on the boards him- 
self. One of these plays was entitled Bethlem 
Gabor. 

A copy of the play of Bethlem Gabor, that 
formerly belonged to J. D. Burk, is still preserved 
by his descendants. It is a duodecimo pamph- 
let, of about fifty pages, each page averaging 
about two hundred and eio-htv words. The 
title is " Bethlem Gabor, Lord of Transylvania, 
or The Man-Hating Palatine, an historical 
drama, in three acts. By John Burk, Peters- 
burg, printed by J. Dickson, for Somervell & 
Conrad, 1807." The pamphlet is covered with 
a part of an old play-bill, the play being Sheri- 
dan's comedy, The School for Scandal, for the 
benefit of Mr. Hopkins, a distinguished comic 
actor of that day. The date of performance, 
November 12, 1803. The character of Sir Peter 
Teazle appears to have been performed by an 
actor, named McKenzio. 

On the reverse of the title page of this copy 
of Bethlem Gabor is a list of the dramatis 
personw of the play in print, as acted by profes- 



46 joim DA L Y n urk. 

sional actors and in manuscript, as performed by 
the Petersburg amateur Thespians. The pro- 
fessional actors are arranged as foUows : Bethlem 
Gabor, Mr. Green; Worotzi, Clare; AVallestein, 
Sandford ; Frederick, Hopkins; Lubin, Ruther- 
ford; Father Dominick, Comer; St. Leon, Mc- 
Kenzie; Spalatro, Bailey; Cornelia, Mrs. West; 
Rosalind, West Jr. (Nannette West). 

The arrangement of the Thespians was as 
follows: Bethlem Gabor, J. D. Burk; Worotzi, 
J. L. Edwards; Frederick, Warrell; Lubin, B. 
Curtis; Father Dominick, T. Stith; St. Leon, 
Stainback; Spalatro, L. Edwards. 

Some of the parts are not supplied. 

On the play-bill cover is written in tlie hand- 
writing of Burk, "Bethlem Gabor, by J. D. 
Burk." The autograph signature of B. Curtis is 
written on the title page and the first page. 

The theatre w^as a small, old, ill looking, 
wooden building, located between BoUingbrook 
and Back (now Lombard) street, in the rear of 
Mr. David Dunlop's lot. Here the actor, Placide, 
and his company used to figure ; and here, the 
people of the town were often gathered to 
witness the performance of the Petersburg 



JOHN DAL T B UJRK. 47 

Thespians, a company composed of young gen- 
tlemen of the town. 

Dr. Atkinson, in his boyhood, has seen John 
Monro Banister, Benjamin Curtis, and others 
of Hke standing, taking part in these perform- 
ances. Besides Burk's play, above mentioned, 
the doctor remembers another written specially 
for these Thespians : Nolens Volens, or the Biter 
Bit, by Everard, son of Dr. Isaac Hall, then 
a resident of Blandford. 

Burk appears to have boarded, during the 
latter ^^ears of his life, at the house of a Mrs. 
Swail, an Irishwoman and a midwife, on Old 
street, a short distance below the present resi- 
dence of John E. Lemoine, Esq. It is said, that 
Burk, while living at Mrs. Swail's, was engaged 
in writing The History of Virginia. His office 
was on Bollingbrook street, near where the 
theatre, or Phenix Hall, formerly stood. 

Burk's proud, self-willed spirit finally led to 
his premature death. iVt the time of the Berlin 
and Milan decrees, which so excited the public, 
in 1808, Burk took occasion, on a Sunday, at 
the table of Powell's tavern, in Petersburg, to 
denounce the French nation as " all a pack of 



48 JOHN DAL Y B URK. 

rascals." A young Frenchman, named Coque- 
bert, a boarder, being at tlie table, inquired of 
Burk, whether he intended to apply his remarks, 
personally, to idm. Burk replied, " Who are 
you, sir ? you can interpret what I said as you 
like." Coquebert answered, " \"ery well, sir." 
He was a clerk ^ in the store of Messrs. Bells 
& McNae. A challenge was accordingly sent 
by McNae, one of the firm. Burk's second was 
Mr. Richard Thweatt, who had, himself, killed 
an antagonist in a duel. 

Burk and Coquebert fought, at sunrise, the 
next morning (Mondaj^), with pistols, at the 
distance of ten paces, on Fleet's hill, beyond 
Campbell's bridge, in the county of Chesterfield, 
about half a mile from the town. Burk was 
shot through the heart at the second fire. He 
tore open his waistcoat, jumped up and expired. 
Coquebert and his second, mounting horses, 
escaped. Neither of them ever returned to 
Petersburg. Dr. Atkinson was, at this time. 



' Captain Cliailcs Kent, who came to Petersburg in 1805, 
says that Coquebert was not connected with Bells &. McXae, 
in bu'^iness, but was, according- to his recollection, a tobacco 
aiicnt, engaged in buying tobacco. Another reminiscent, 
Avho knew Co(juebert, says that he was not a clerk. 



JOim DAL Y B UBK. 49 

going to school, in Petersburg, to an Englishman, 
named Davis, author of a rhapsodical sort of 
romance, of which Pocahontas is the heroine. 
John Junius Burk, only child of John D., aged 
about eleven, was a schoolmate of young At- 
kinson, and had gone home with him in the 
afternoon of the preceding Friday, to Olive hill, 
a few miles distant in the county of Chester- 
field. Junius Burk was small, but brave and 
lion-hearted. As the two boys were returning 
to town on Monday morning, they learned from 
some countrymen, whom they met near Fleet's 
hill, that some one had been killed in a duel 
there that morning, and repairing to the spot, 
they found the ground wet with blood. The 
place was in a ravine, some two hundred and fifty 
yar^s from the road, in a field on the left hand, 
in coming to town. It was a piney old field. 

The two boys proceeding towards Campbell's 
bridge, young Burk presently heard that his 
father had been killed. Young Atkinson, in 
haste, accompanied his agonized schoolmate to 
Mrs. Swail's on Old street, where his father's 
body was laid out. It had been removed from 
the field in a carriage. 



50 JOHN DAL Y B UltK. 

The body was borne on the following day 
(Tuesday), thence to the family burial ground of 
General Joseph Jones, at Cedar Grove near the 
town. The funeral procession was the largest 
ever seen in Petersburg up to that time.^ 
Ladies strewed flowers over the grave. No 
tombstone marks the spot. The grave-yard is 
near the Mt. Airy work-shops of the Petersburg 
rail-road.^ General Jones, belonging to the re- 
j)ublican party, was first, postmaster and after- 
wards collector of the customs, at Petersburg. 

John Davis, the teacher above mentioned, 
was author of The First Settlers of Virginia, an 
historical novel, exhibiting a view of the rise 
and progress of the colony at Jamestown, a 
picture of Indian manners, the countenance of 
the country and its natural productions. A 
second edition considerably enlarged, 12mo, 
sheep, was published in New York, 1806. This 
novel was much ridiculed by the Edinhurgli 
Review and others. Davis, in his second edition, 



1 Mr. Allen Archer, now an octogenarian citizen of Pe- 
tersburg, was present at the funeral. 

'■i The land now (1868) belongs to Archibald G. Mcll- 
waine, Esq. 



JOHN DA LY B URK. 51 

published extracts from these notices of his 
work. 

He wrote the following verses in honor of 
Burk, and they were published at Philadelphia 
in the Port Folio, 1809, p. 77. 

Bark's Garden Grave. 
John Daly Burk fell in a duel, at Petersburg, 
Virginia, and lies buried in the garden of Gene- 
ral Jones's villa, about a mile from the town. 

I climb'd the high hills of the dark Appomattox, 

The stream, poured its waters the wild woods among, 
All was still, save the dash of the surge from the white rocks, 

Where the sea-fowl indulged in his tremulous song. 
On my right, where the poplars with fair branches gleaming. 

Half embosom the high-vaulted villa of Jones, 
On the tombstone of Daly the liquid sun streaming, 

parked the spot, where the bard had found rest for his 
bones. 

Oh ! rare is the spot, hung with clustering roses, 

Where Virginia's sweet minstrel is gone to his rest, 
For the sun's parting ray on his grave oft reposes. 

And the redbreast delights there to build her soft nest. 
And oft shall the damsels with bosoms high swelling. 

Whose ruby lips sweetly his soft stanzas sing, 
Dejected repair to the bard's narrow dwelling, 

And deck the raised turf with the garlands of spring. 



52 JOHN DALY BUUK. 

The verses were afterwards republished, with 
some alterations, in the Port Folio (1814), p.. 
291, as follows: 

Mr. Oldschool: 

A very imperfect copy of the following tribute, 
was published in an early number of the Port 
loUo, under the signature of Atticus. Finding 
it has become popular, in conformity with Swift's 
advice, I avow myself its author; and having 
retouched and enlarged this tributary verse to 
my lamented friend, I entreat you will do me 
the honor, to insert it auctior et emendatioi; in 
your elegant miscellany. 

Burk's Garden Grave. — A71 Ode. 

BY Mil. DAVIS. 

John Daly Burke, an Irishman by birth, but 
an American by adoption, fell in a duel with a 
French gentleman, on the banks of the Appo- 
mattox, and was buried in the garden of his 
faithful friend, the worthy General Jones, a spot 
which Rousseau would have coveted for the 
place of his interment, beyond the sepulchres of 
kings. Burke's History 0/ Virginia has "placed 



JOHN DA LY B UBK. 53 

a nation's fame amid the stars;" and his songs 
are often warbled b}^ our southern ladies in 
1)0 wer and in hall: 

I climb'd the high hills of the dark Appomattox, 

The stream roll'd in silence the wild woods among; 
All was still — save the dash of the wave from the white rocks, 

Where the sea-fowl indulg'd his tremulous song. 
On my right, where the poplars, in fair clusters gleaming, 

Half embosom the sky-piercing turrets of Jones, 
The sun's liquid rays upon Daly's tomb streaming. 

Marked the spot, where the bard had found rest for his 
bones. 

Accursed be the hand, with resentment prevailing, 

That pointed the weapon, compelling thy fall; 
That brought from their bowers the Muses bewailing. 

Thy body convulsed with the murderous ball. 
On the river's stain'd margin, there Clio was seen. 

With Terpsichore mourning thy fine spirit fled; 
Thalia no longer retain'd her gay mien, 

BjLit hid in Melpomene's bosom her head. 

Yet sweet is the spot, hung with clustering roses, 

Where Erin's lov'd minstrel is gone to his rest; 
For the sun's parting beam on his green grave reposes. 

And the wren, sweetly plaintive, builds there her soft nest, 
And oft shall the damsels, with bosoms high swelling, 

Whose voices, in concert, his soothing lay sing, 
Dejected — repair to the bard's narrow dwelling, 

And deck the rais'd turf with the garlands of spring. 



54 JOHN DAL T B URK. 

Obituaries of John D. Burk} 

FROM A RICHMOND PAPER. 

Died at Petersburg, Virginia, on Monday last, 
in consequence of a wound, received in a duel, 
John D. Burk, Esq., a native of Ireland, and, for 
a number of years last past, a resident of that 
place; author of various literary, historical and 
periodical works. On the following day his 
respected relics were to be interred with military 
honors. Those relics once delighted in the en- 
dearing domestic virtues, which constitute the 
citizen and worthy brother. Liberal and sub- 
stantial in his friendship, unsuspicious, open and 
generous, he concentrated in his bosom the no- 
blest qualities of human nature. He pitied little- 
ness, loved goodness, admired greatness, and ever 
aspired to its glorious summit! From the native 
amiableness of his heart when in the domestic 
circle, his humor spread around him cheerful- 
ness and gayety, like the refreshing zephyrs of a 
summer's evening. Alas ! he sleeps in death ! 



1 These obituaries are preserved in printed form, but with- 
out the names of the papers. 



JOUI^ DAL Y B UBE. 55 

" Till mould'ring worlds and trembling systems burst ! 
When the last trump shall renovate his dust ! 
Still by the mandate of eternal truth, 
His soul will flourish in immortal youth." 

Like the thunder-bolt, which rends the 
majestic oak, death levels its triumphant dart, 
and virtue and genius wither at the blow. 

It is rumored, in this city, that John D. Burk 
of Petersburg, the author of The History of 
Tirginia, fell yesterday morning, in a duel, in 
that town. At the second fire he fell to rise no 
more. We fear that this melancholy intelligence 
is too true. Mr. Burk was a man of a noble 
and expanded soul, of a rich and splendid genius. 
His death will leave a blank in the society of 
Virginia, which years will not fill up. 

(The above is too true) . 

s 

On Tuesday morning last, the remains of John 
D. Burlv were consigned to the grave. He had 
particularly desired, in his will,^ that his body 
should not be interred in a church-yard, and 
requested, too, that the usual religious formalities 
on funeral occasions, might be dispensed with. 



'The will contains no such request. 



56 JOHN DALY nUllK. 

His corpse was, therefore, conveyed to Cedar 
Grove, the seat of General Jones, in the suburbs 
of the town, and buried with mihtary honors. 
The volunteer companies of artillery, cavalry 
and infantry attended the funeral, as well as a 
numerous concourse of citizens. 

The causes, which led to a misunderstanding, 
between Mr. Coquebert and the deceased, and 
which finally produced so distressing a cata- 
strophe, were of a political nature. In a con- 
versation, at a public table, sometime during the 
last week, as we are told, the subject turned 
upon the letter of the French minister Cham- 
pagny, to General Armstrong, lately published : 
the deceased expressed himself with considerable 
warmth ; , reprobated the conduct of the French 
government towards the United States; and 
painted in strong colors the insolence of its 
minister. Mr. C. being a native of France, 
conceived himself individually assailed, by the 
words uttered, as well as insulted by the epithets 
applied to his nation and government : he 
demanded an explanation of the object of the 
speaker. Very few words, however, passed 
between Mr. C. and the deceased: the explana- 



JOHN DAL Y B URK. 57 

tion required was not given, and the former, in 
a few moments, left the room. Soon after a 
challeno;e was sent bv Mr. C, which was 
accepted, and early, on Monday morning, the 
parties, with their seconds, met in a field adjoin- 
ing town. On the first fire Mr. C.'s pistol 
snapped and the contents of Mr. B.'s were dis- 
charged ineffectually. The second fire proved 
decisive. Mr. C.'s ball passed through the heart 
of his antagonist, who expired without a word 
or a groan. Such is the relation which we have 
had of the unfortunate affair. 

Petersbtjrg, Saturday, April 23, 1808. 
For The Repuhlican. 

But should some villain, in support 
And zeal for a despairing court, 
*^ Placing in craft his confidence, 
And making honor a pretence. 
To do a deed of deepest shame, 
While filthy lucre is his aim; 
Should such a wretch with sword or knife 
(vontrive to practice 'gainst the life 
Of one, who, honor'd thro' the land, 
For freedom made a glorious stand; 
Whose chief, perhaps his only crime, 
Is (if plain truth at such a time, 
May dare her sentiments to tell), 
That he his country lov'd too well : 



58 JOHN BAL Y B TJRK. 

May he — for a noble curse, 
Which might liis very marrow pierce ! 
The general contempt engage 
And be the Martin of his age. 

Churchill. 

In all societies, there are men actuated, either 
by malice, or envy, to blast the fair fame of 
those eminent for their talents or virtues. 
Impressions and reports unfavorable to the 
character of John D. Burk, have gone abroad 
with great facility. Where and in whom these 
reports originated, I am unable to say. But I 
conceive it my bounden duty, to lay before the 
public every circumstance relating to the late 
unfortunate duel. 

" Saturday, Ajyril 9.' 

''Mr. Burk, dining at a public tavern with 
his friends around him, expressed his sentiments, 
with regard to the French government, in the 
following manner : 

" What will the cavillers against the adminis- 
tration now say? What will they say to the 
letter of Mr. Armstrong, in answer to the arro- 



' From this it appears, that the altercation occurred on 
Saturday. The reminiscence, on page 47. making it Sun- 
day, is erroneous. 



JOHN DAL Y B UBK. 59 

gant note of Mr. Charapagny? I am in hopes, 
when they read the honest, manly and luminous 
remarks of an American citizen, in refutation of 
the pretensions of the French rascals, they will 
have honesty and modesty enough to withdraw 
their accusations, and be silent, for the French 
are all a pack of rascals. 

'^^Mr. Coquebert. Did you mean to apply those 
observations to me ? 

"J/?-, Bwrh. Sir, I do not know who jow are; 
what you are? I did not know there was such 
a being in existence. "Who are you, sir? What 
are you? I do not so much as know your 
country, or even your name. 

"Mr. G. I ask, if you mean to insult me, sir? 

'^Mj'. B. Seeing sir, that you have no right to 
intrude upon my concerns, or conversation, you 
must even take it as you please. 

" Mr. G. Very well, sir. 

" The observations of Mr. C. were uttered, at 
the public table, in a tone of defiance which 
precluded anything like gentlemanly or manly 
explanation." - 



' The foregoing account was given by Mr. Burk himself, 



GO JOHN BAL Y B UHK. 

Sunday morning Mr. Burk received the fol- 
lowing note : 

Sir : I have been so long in the place, that you 
could not help knowing that I am a Frenchman. 
I sat so nearly opposite to you, at dinner, that 
you could not avoid seeing me. What you 
said, could not fail to hurt my feelings. I do 
not pretend to control the conversation of any 
man, inasmuch as it does not relate to me. 
But I cannot overlook what is said in my very 
face, let it be said directly, or indirectly. If, 
(alluding to politics) you did not mean to insult 
me, and had not observed that a Frenchman 
was within reach of your words, I suppose you 
have no objection to ease those feelings, by an 
acknowledgment of it, in as formal a manner as 
that I take to address you.^ 

F. COQUEBERT. 
Saturday^ April 9. 



to his friend, that in case the interview proved fatul to him, 
he should inclose it to me with the correspondence. 

1 It was believed by some, that Burk had for some time 
evinced a strong dislike to Coquebert. 



JOHN DAL Y B URK. 61 

To the foregoing note Mr. Kichcard N. 
Thweatt, the friend of Mr. Burk, deUvered the 
answer, as follows : 

Sir : My friend, Mr. Thweatt, who was privy 
to the conversation you complain of, will arrange 
with your friend anything necessary to discus- 
sion, or battle if it shall be so determined on. 
I hope you will excuse the inaccuracy of not 
replying to your polite note by a written 
answer. 



J. D. Burk. 



Sunday morning, April 10. 
Mr. Coquebeht. 



After, the preceding notes passed, no farther 
communication took place between the parties 
(as I understand), except Mr. Thweatt being 
calied upon to name the time and place for 
battle. 

The fatal event of which is known to the 
world. The situation, in which I stand, relative 
to the deceased, will plead my apology to the 
public, for publishing the cause, which led to 
the late unhappy catastrophe, together with the 
consideration of preventing misrepresentations. 

B. Curtis. 

April 21, 1808. 



62 JOHN DAL T B URK. 



Cofy of the last Will and Testament of Johi Daly 
Burk. 

Know all men by these presents, that I, John 
D. Burk, being now in sound health of body 
and mind, do give, convey, bequeath and assign, 
sell and make over all my real and personal 
estate, together with the proceeds, which shall 
arise from the publication of my compositions, 
whether in prose, or verse, unto Townsend 
Stith, Roger A Jones, and Thos. B. Robertson, 
their heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, 
in trust, however, for the payment of my debts, 
which, if not to be done by the profits of my 
share in Battersea paper-mills and otherwise, 
shall be vested in them, absolutely, in the hope, 
however, that, as men of honor they will accom- 
plish this, and appropriate the remainder accord- 
ing to their best judgment, to my sons, Benjamin 
Curtis, Henry Curtis, and John Junius Burk; 
and to this instrument I bind my heirs, execu- 
tors, and assigns, this 9th day of April, 1808. 
John D. Burk. [Seal.] 



JOHN DA LY B UBK. Q 3 

And I do farther wish and require, that this 
conveyance shall be considered as bona fide my 
last will and testament. 

John D. Burk. [Seal.] 

I wish to annex a codicil to this testamentary 
bequest, a few observations respecting my 
youngest son (1 mention him only because, from 
his years, he is most helpless) . In my estima- 
tion, he possesses all the materials of a scholar, 
a gentleman and a hero. For the reasons 
assigned, I recommend him, especially, to the 
attention of my trustees, executors and friends, 
and my friends, if my principles were accurately 
understood, would . be the people of Virginia. 
I might go farther ; but I will stop here. 

T'est. J. D. BuRK. 

At a Hustings Court, continued and held for 
the town of Petersburg, at the Court House of 
the said town, Tuesday, the 7th day of June, 
1808. The last Will and Testament of John 
D. Burk, deceased, and the codicil thereto an- 
nexed, were presented in court, by William 
Robertson, and there being no witnesses to the 



64 JOUN DAL Y B UBK. 

said will, Townsend Stith deposed, that he is 
well acquainted with the hand-Avriting of the 
testator and verily believes, that the said will 
and the signature thereto, are all of the said 
testator's proper hand-writing: Whereupon the 
same is ordered to be recorded. And Townsend 
Stith, one of the executors or trustees named in 
the said will, refusing to undertake the execu- 
tion thereon, Tho. B. Robertson, another, being 
absent from this commonwealth, and the court 
being satisfied that Roger A. Jones, the other 
executor, or trustee, will not qualify as such : 
Therefore, on the motion of John M. Banister 
(and for reasons appearing to the court), who 
made oath and together with Theodorick B. 
Banister, his security, entered into and acknow- 
ledged their bond, in the penalty of five thou- 
sand dollars, as the law directs certificate is 
granted him for obtaining letters [of] adminis- 
tration of the estate of the said John D. Burk, 
deceased, with his said will annexed, in due 
form. 

Attest. J. GrAMMER, C. T. P. 



JOHN DAL Y B URK. 65 

Will of EUzaheih Swail. 

In the name of God Amen : I Elizabeth Swail, 
of the Town of Petersburg, being weak in body, 
but of sound and disposing memory, do make 
and ordain this my last Will and Testament, 
(hereby revoking all others). 

Impydmis. After my just debts are paid, I 
give the whole of my estate to Junius Burk, 
Valentine Swail of Telecarner, in the County of 
Down, in the Kingdom of Great Britain (Ireland) 
to be equally divided between the said Junius 
Burk, Valentine Swail, May Leed, and Jane 
Swail, but if the said Estate cannot be equally 
divided, unless a sale of the lot takes place, 
then it is my will and desire that the said lot, 
lyin'g on Old Street, be sold for that purpose by 
Benjamin Curtis, whom I do hereby appoint my 
executor and the proceeds of such sale to be 
equally divided betw^een the parties aforesaid. 
All my personal Estate not to be sold, unless 
in case of a deficiency of funds to discharge 
my Debts. In witness whereof I have here- 
unto set my hand and seal, this ninth day 



ee 'lOUN DALY BUEK. 

of October, one Thousand eight hundred and 
thirteen. 

her 

Elizabeth x Swail 

mark. 
Witnesses, 

her 

Martha x Heath 
mark. 

Mary Thayer, 



At a Quarter session Hustings Court Con- 
tinued and held, for the Town of Petersburg, at 
the Court House of the said Town, tuesda}', the 
2d day of November, 1813. 

The hist Will and Testament of Elizabeth 
Swail, deed., was jd roved, in open Court, by 
the oaths of Martha Heath and Mary Thayer, 
the witnesses thereto, and is ordered to be 
recorded. And, on the motion of Benjamin 
Curtis, the Executor, therein named, who made 
oath & together with William Gilmour, his 
security, entered into and acknowledged their 
bond, in the penalty of two thousand four 
hundred dollars, as the law directs. Certificate 
is granted him, for obtaining a probat of the 
Said Will, in due form. 

Teste. J. GkAMMER, C. T. P. 



JOUN DAL Y B UBK. 6 7 

Notice of Buries Hlsioru of Virginia^ from the Lynch- 
burg Star. 

The first volume of this interesting work has 
lately made its ajjpearance here. Than a 
correct, regularly digested history of this com- 
monwealth, there was no book more wanted ; 
and this want hy the work before us, as far as it 
goes, seems eminently supplied. The historical 
sketches extant were imperfect, too succinct, or 
disgustingly diffuse, and deficient generally in 
point of arrangement and method. 

History and biography, at the same time that 
they are of all knowledge the most amusing 
and interesting, are the most important and 
instructive. The world and its concerns, nations 
and nature, the sanguinary ravages of ruthless 
ambition, and the milder progress of civilization, 
science and philosophy, are, by the happy inven- 
tion of letters and the press, brought into full 
review, on the historic page, for our instruction 
and delight. 

The history of our own country is, of all 
others, the most important and interesting. 
Pride and self-love impel to this knowledge. 
Indeed, the passion seems interwoven with our 



68 JOHN DAL Y B URK. 

very nature, as even the most humble and 
obscure thirst to claim origin from some remote 
and honorable source. 

The work before us is judiciouf^ly introduced 
by a glance at ancient usage; and by a succinct 
view of the political and commercial relations 
and posture of Europe, before the discovery of 
North America. 

The discovery of the country ; preparations 
for colonization; the dangers, difficulties and 
distresses to which the first settlers were exposed, 
are recounted with method, animation and sen- 
timent. The story progresses naturally, and 
although indispensably crowded with inference, 
quotation and authority, considerable force and 
diversity are given to certain incidents and 
events, by the masculine, energetic language of 
Mr. Burk. 

The memorable romantic story of Capt. 
Smith; his intrepidity, integrity, sagacity and 
miraculous adventures, dangers and delivery, 
both in Europe and America; his intercourse 
and connection with that independent, arrogant, 
yet shrewd and manly son of nature, the savage 
emperor, Powliatan, and his very amialjle daugh- 



JOUN DAL Y B URK. G9 

ter, the princess Pocahaiitas (who saved his 
life at the hazard of her own), will be read and 
remembered with sympathy and interest, while 
either taste or patriotism exist in Virginia. 

Mr. Burk's marked abhorrence of slavery and 
usurpation, his ardent adoration of liberty and 
independence, fire his soul. Thought acquires 
strength by his pen ; nor are bold conceptions 
frittered. * * * Ccetera desunt. 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND CHAEACTER 



JUDGE JOHN JUNIUS BURK, 



Obitiiarij. 

From a Paper published, at Batou Rouge, Louisiana. 

Died. — At the family residence in this city, 
on Tuesda}^ morning, the 17th inst., Hon. J. 
J. Burk, a native of Virginia, aged 67 years.^ 

Death of the Hon. John J. Bark. 

It is witli pain and sorrow^ that we are called 
to record the death of this venerable gentleman. 
Judge Burk was a native of Virginia, but came 
to Louisiana, at an early age, making the parish 
of Iberville, his home and afterwards removing 
to Baton Rouge, where he continued to reside, 
almost uninterruptedly, up to the time of his 
decease. 



1 It will be seen, on a subsequent page, that he was igno- 
rant of the (late of his birth. 



72 JOHN JUNIUS BURK. 

He was possessed of an amiable character, 
being of a kind, polite and obliging disposition, 
and always seemed to bear up against the 
ills of life with that calm, patient and uncom- 
plaining spirit, which marked him the true 
philosopher. 

By profession a lawyer, he became through 
natural taste and habits of close application to 
study and research, distinguished for his erudi- 
tion and knowledge in legal science. He was, 
moreover, remarkably well versed in classic 
history, and in the varied branches of polite 
literature. The science and poetrj- of ancient 
Celtic literature and song we remember as a 
distinctive feature in his partialities and devo- 
tion to the more ennobling and refining subjects, 
with which he had stored liis mind. Honest 
and true in his purposes, with a heart keenly 
alive to the woes and sufferings of his fellow 
creatures, he commanded the confidence, love 
and respect of all who knew him. 

For several years he occupied the position of 
judge, in this judicial district; the duties of 
which he discharged with zeal and fidelity. If 
at any time he failed to manifest, in his official 



JOHN JUNIUS B URK. 7 3 

or personal relations, that perfection of judgment 
and wisdom, which is beyond the ken and power 
of mortals, here below, to reach, it might be 
said of him, that : 

"E'en liis failings leaned to virtue's side." 

Judge Burk leaves a widow and several 
offspring, to mourn his loss. He died, at 
his residence, in this city, on Tuesday morn- 
ing, the 17th inst., at the ripe old age of sixty- 
seven. 

Green be the memory of the good old man, 
whose life was gilded by so many sterling 
though unostentatious virtues ; and may Heaven 
reward his soul with the crowning blessings 
promised to the pure and upright of earth. 

At a meeting of the members of the bar, of 

the fifth judicial district of Louisiana, held at 

the Court House of West Baton Rouge, on the 

17th of Juty, 1866, a series of resolutions was 

passed, in honor of the memory of the Hon. J. 

J. Burk, late judge of that district, expressing 

their appreciation of his many virtues, his 

urbanity of manner, his firmness of character, 
10 



74 JOUN JUNIUS B UBK. 

his honesty of purpose, as a citizen and a man, 
and his sterling integrity as a judge. Tiie Hon. 
Reuben T. Posey was chairman of this meeting, 
and 0. M. Le Blanc, Esq., clerk of the court, 
secretary. The proceedings were published in 
the Baton Rouge newspapers. 

Letter from Miss Jiinia Bark. 

Baton Rouge, Oct. 4, 1867. 
Mr. C. Ciimpbell : 

Sir: 

I received your two letters, the one inclosing 
the extracts from my scrap-book, the other 
informing me of the return of the book (which 
however, I have not yet received) ; but I have 
only at present found time to acknowledge the 
receipt of them, my attention having been 
wholly engrossed with the care of my then only 
remaining parent, who departed this life on the 
16th of last month, after a long and severe 
illness. Looking over my late mother's papers, 
I find the will of John D. Burk ; also a play in 
pamphlet form, entitled Bethlem Gabor, of which 
he is the author. The two sons of the widow 
Curtis were Benjamin and Henry, but whom 



JOHN JUNIUS BURK. 75 

they respectively married, or what offspring tliey 
had, I have no means of ascertaining. As you 
wish for some particulars concerning my late 
father, T will endeavor to tell you what I know 
of his character, and the simple events which 
marked his life. He told us, that he was igno- 
rant of the date and exact place of his birth, 
as his mother had been dead some time before 
the fall of his father, whose premature end, 
deprived him of the means of ascertaining these 
facts. He was born in the United States, l^ut 
whether in Boston (the native place of his 
mother) or in Richmond, Va., he was totally 
ignorant. 

At his father's death, he was taken in charge 
by Mr. Thomas Boiling Robertson, then governor 
of Virginia,^ and one of the executors of his 
father's will, and was sent by him to William 
and Mary College, where he nearly completed 
his education, being considered a boy of sagacity 
and integrity, beyond his age; as a proof of 
which he was allowed to depose as a witness in 



' This is a mistake : he was never governor of A^irginia, 
but, subsequently to John D. Burk's death, was governor of 
Louisiana. 



76 JOHN JUNIUt< B URK. 

a criminal case at the age of nine. He was 
much cherished b}^ his father's friends, who 
contrived to fulfil the articles of liis last w^ll 
and testament, as far as was in their power, 
besides giving him free access to the Richmond 
theatre, where his fathers plays were repre- 
sented, and where as he has often told us, he 
imbibed much of his love for poetical and histo- 
rical composition. Being considered a proficient 
in the dead languages, and possessing a good 
English education, he determined to remain no 
longer dependent on his friends, and with this 
view came to Louisiana, where he studied law, 
and was soon received a member of the bar, 
which profession he followed with success, divid- 
ing his time, after his marriage, between his 
legal studies and the education of his children, 
with the added care of a young man, whom he 
assumed the charge of educating, under the 
same circumstances as those in which he was 
befriended hy Mr. Robertson, He performed 
the journey from Virginia to Louisiana, on foot, 
making a digression through the Lidian territory, 
with the idea of living a free life among the 
savages, as he afterwards related to us, when 



JOHN JUNIUS BURK. ' 77 

recounting the eccentric aspirations of a wild 
bat poetical youth. 

He was habitually a student and given to 
literature in its various branches, but he was 
particularly fond of Irish history and took 
great pleasure in gathering information of its 
pristine glory as a country, and its probable 
future destiny among nations. Like his flxther, 
he was both poet and historian, but was dis- 
trustful or indifferent concerning the publication 
of his compositions, and it was only, at the 
urgent request of his friends, that some of his 
pieces were published. 

As for the events of his life, after he removed 
to Louisiana, and the date of his death, you 
find them in the printed ol^ituary, which I sent 
you, some time since. 

He married Margaret Alexandrine Millette, 
a lady of French extraction, by whom he had 
thirteen children, only five of whom are now 
living, four girls and one hoy. He also raised 
and educated Andrew S. Herron, whom he took 
at the age of twelve, after the death of his 
father Major Herron of Tennessee, who fell also 
in a duel ; the same young man, whom I men- 



78 • JOHN JUNIUS BURK. 

tioned above, now a prominent lawyer of this 
place, late colonel in the Confederate army, and 
who has filled the several offices of secretary 
and attorney general of the state, under the old 
rule. 

I would be happy, if I possessed the talent of 
narration, in order to note my personal know- 
ledge of my late father, as I knew him. Affec- 
tion perhaps may bias my appreciation of his 
private character, but it is also true, owing to his 
extremely reserved nature, that only those who 
were in intimate relations with him, could tho- 
roughly know his worth as a private individual. 
He was a man of the most exalted moral views 
and unswerving integrity, in his transactions 
with his fellow men. He was totally incapable 
of a mean, or little action, and his inculcations 
to his children and those under his immediate 
influence, were all of the highest moral tone. 
I never knew liim, from my earliest childhood, 
to neglect pointing out to the observation of 
youth the beautiful and true in nature, history 
and life. His manners were an evidence of his 
character, though, in their outward demonstra- 
tions, savoring of the old style. While pursuing 



JOHN JUNIUS BURK. 79 

his avocation of a judge, of this and other 
distant parishes, he educated, with the aid of 
his wife (herself a former pupil, as he married 
her while she was yet very young) and eldest 
daughter, four of his younger children, at the 
same time keeping open house for the entertain- 
ment of his friends and whatever professors of 
talent and learning, might be visiting the place 
at the time. 

I must not neglect to mention, that, for 
twenty odd years before his death, he was a 
strict vegetarian, although keeping the best of 
tables, whilst he was able ; he was extremely 
abstemious, drinking little or no liquor, and 
eating, sparingly, of vegetable food, though he 
told us, that in his younger days he was quite 
dissipated, but not assigning that as a reason 
for his later frugality; on the contrary, he 
seemed to have no wish for animal food, and 
only drank, rarely, to please his friends. 

I am in possession of several anecdotes, related 
to me by his friends, which would be irrelevant 
here, but which are indicative of his character. 
If, later, you should feel any interest in seeing 
them, I could supply you with the narration. 



80 JOHN .iryius nuRK. 

I will send you, in another envelope, his 
likeness, with a copy of J. D. Burk's will, which 
will authenticate the names of the two Curtises, 
also my father's. 

Begging you to excuse the desultorj^ style of 
my letter, owing to my increased cares, since 
the death of my late lamented mother/ 
I remain, yours respectfully, 

J. BURK. 

P. S. Accept my sincere thanks for the 
interest you have shown in the memory of those, 
so dear to me, also for the tender of the notice 
of my grandfather, which you propose publish- 



1 Judge John Junius Burk was born in the year 1800,* 
and died July 17, 18GG. He married Alexandrine 31illette, 
who was born in the Parish of Assomption, Louisiana, Feb. 
4, 1813, and died at Baton Rouge, Sept. 16, 18G8. Children 
of John Junius Burk and Alexandrine, his wife : 1, Norah 
Mary; 2, Junia (deceased) ; 3, Junia Mary (deceased); 4, 
Junia Agnes; 5, Eve Margaret; 6, John Daly (deceased); 
7, Kobert Emmet; 8, Maria llosa. 

1, Norah Mary Burk married John W. Jones, of South 
Carolina, Oct. 17, 1850. Children: 1, Patrick Burk 
(deceased); 2, Dennis; 3, Annie Mary. 

* According to this date, he was only about eight years old at 
the time of his father's death, instead of eleven, as stated in some 
reminiscences on a fonner ])ao-('. I'lie jnd{>"e was ignorant of the 
date of his birth, but it was probably in ISOO. 



JOHN JUmUS BURK. 81 

ing. I have many friends here, but I prize very 
highly those, who are connected with the memo- 
ries of past days, in the Old Dominion. 

Baton Rouge, Oct. 13, 1867. 

Mr. C. Campbell : 

Sir: As I promised to give j^ou some anec- 
dotes, illustrative of my ftxther's character, I will 
do so, although it is with a feeling of diffidence, as 
to my being able to relate them, and even after 
having done so, whether they are worthy the 
relation ; l)ut knowing that they are to meet the 
eye of a friend, I trust them, such as they are, 
hoping 3^ou will forgive the partiality of a 
daughter, whose affection makes her see all 
things, connected with her deceased parent, in 
an interesting point of view. 

I give them, as well as I can remember, in 
the words of those who related them to me. 

Anecdotes of Judije John Junius Burk. 

Judge Burk was a man of extremely reserved 
and quiet demeanor, in such a degree, that he 
was little suspected of possessing the light ac- 
complishments, usually affected by gentlemen, 

unless accident called forth their demonstration. 
11 



82 JOHN JUNIUS BURK. 

Being in company with some gentlemen, who 
were amusing themselves, shooting at a mark, 
in the grove adjoining his house, it was proposed, 
by one of the party, to try their skill respect- 
ively, at hitting an upright twig, at some yards 
distant. The proposal seemed, to most of the 
party, out of the range of probability, when 
quietly taking the pistol, Mr. Burk aimed at 
and split the twig, at the first shot. 

A short time after, a noisy politician, of opin- 
ions conllicting with those of Mr. Burk, becoming 
displeased at, and taking as a personal affront, 
some general remarks, published by him, in one 
of the newspapers, came to town, with the inten- 
tion of calling him out. One of the shooting 
party, overhearing him express his intentions 
towards his supposed enemy, took the occasion 
simply to remark, that he w^ould prefer, were 
he in his place, not to have a difficulty with a 
man whom he had witnessed split a rod, at ten 
paces, for mere amusement. The gentleman in 
question ceased his threats and from that time, 
also, his belligerent intentions. 



JOHN JUNIUS BURE. 83 

Mr. Burk had a partiality for smoking a 
shuck, with a little tobacco enclosed, of which 
he would consume a quantity, every day, in the 
form of small cigarettes. A celebrated bully, 
who kept the faint-hearted of the village in con- 
stant awe of his displeasure, chose to make some 
rude remarks, concerning this peculiarity of Mr. 
B.'s in his presence and that of several others, 
directing his observations, pointedly and without 
mistake, with the intention of intimidating the 
object of his impertinence ; when to the astonish- 
ment and terror of all the bystanders (he being 
much the smaller man of the two) he coolly 
walked up to him and puffed, several times, the 
smoke of the ofiending cigarette, in his face and 
quietly walked away, without the slightest at- 
tempt on the part of the bully, to resent the 
offence. 

On another occasion, attending a term of court, 
in the parish of Assumption, he gave offence to 
some of the fire-eaters of the place, by a deci- 
sion, rendered contrary to their wishes and 
expectations, when (the interior position and 
feeble police of the community emboldening 



84 JOHN JUNIUS BURK. 

them) tliey determined to take the kiw in their 
own hands, and with this intention, armed them- 
selves and waited in the lobby of the Court House, 
in order to intimidate him, into a compliance 
with their ideas of justice, as he had not yet 
set the final seal to his decision. The sheriff, 
learning of the circumstances, too late to put 
the parties under arrest, before the judge should 
enter the court, proposed supplying him with a 
proper guard, for defence; but this he refused 
and by the mere quiet and determination, evinced 
in his demeanor towards them, succeeded in 
completely disarming the ruffianly intentions of 
the malcontents, who submitted to the final 
decision, drawn up on the morning in question, 
without a murmur. 

Embarked on the steamer on a return trip 
from a term of court, held in the above-named 

parish, he became aware of the presence of , 

a delinquent who had escaped the justice which 
would have been awarded to him, in all likeli- 
hood, at the previous term of court, in his own 
parish. Seeing that the recognition was mutual, 
he came up to Mr. Burk, in private, and asked 



JOUN JUNIUS B URK. 85 

him if he was not afraid of him: on being 
answered in the negative, he replied, that he 
knew he must be much mistaken in his man, if 
h€ could admit the possibility of his (the 
judge's) becoming informer. 

On the 27tli of February, 1859, the steamer 
Princess, on her down trip to New Orleans, 
exploded, causing great loss of life and property. 
Many honorable members of the bar were on 
board, on their way down, to plead in the 
supreme court. Mr. Burk being one of the 
number (his office as judge having expired some 
time before) , had taken a Tjatin Tacitus from his 
pocket, and gone by himself to a snug corner 
(as he thought) on the guards, in order to 
peruse his favorite author, when the boat ex- 
ploded, and (as he afterwards described it) from 
his comfortable seat on the chair, he found him- 
self on his face, with the clap-boards of the cabin 
about him. With much presence of mind, he 
waited a considerable time for the steam to dis- 
perse, and then watched his chance for getting 
off on the stage-plank, which was by this time 
extended some way into the river, but seeing it 



86 JOHN JUNIUS BURK. 

crowded by the struggling unfortunate, he pre- 
ferred trusting to the waves. With this view 
he pulled off only his coat and swam the space 
of one-third the breadth of the Mississippi, 
with his mud-boots on, and arrived safely to 
shore. 

His benevolence was easily excited at the 
sight of misfortune in any form. On a cold 
wintry day, seeing a jDoor woman, wandering 
about in a forlorn manner, he was struck with 
her appearance, and inquired the cause of her 
trouble. On being informed, that she had been 
turned out of doors, by a cruel landlord, he 
immediately paid the rent due to the owner of 
the house and restored her to shelter. 

During the late war he spent most of his 
time, at a small farm, about twenty miles from 
town, as he preferred living there to remaining 
within the Federal lines. A Yankee company 
having occasion to pass that way, one of the 
party stole his only cloak. Mentioning the 
circumstance, some time afterwards, in a letter 
to his family, he wrote, '•' The rascally Yankees 



JOHN JUNIUS B URE. 87 

passed here the other night and stole my only 
cloak, which they might have saved themselves 
the trouble of doing. Had they asked it, of me, 
I would have given it, cheerfully, as I have 
always heard that " the cloak of charity covereth 
many sins," and God knows they have enough 
to answer for. 

P. S. I enclose, at a later date for your inspec- 
tion, a passage taken from a work entitled The 
History of Ireland, by the Abbe Mac Geohegan, 
translated from the French by Patrick O'Kelly. 
The portion referred to is headed Christian 
Ireland: the pages 271 and 434. 

The substance of the passage referred to, was 
rekted to me, verbally, by one father Thomas 
Burk of St Louis, while speaking to me, con- 
cerning our family, of which he said }ie knew 
the origin. I have written to him, since I have 
been corresponding with you, but have not 
received an answer to my letter. I think he 
must be dead, as he told me, many years ago, 
that I must call upon him if I ever want in- 
formation on this subject. 

JuNiA Burk. 



88 JOHN JUNIUS BUBK. 

The faiiiiW of Burke, otherwise de Bourk, or 
de Burgo, in Ireland, derives its origin from 
William Fitz Adelm, one of the first English, 
who landed in Ireland under Henry II. Fitz 
Adelm was descended from Serlo, or Harlowen 
de Bourgo, son of a Norman lord, named Eus- 
tace. Serlo having espoused Arlotte, mother of 
William the Conqueror, passed over with that 
prince into England. Of this marriage of Serlo 
with Arlotte, was born Robert, Earl of Cornwall, 
from whom descended William, wdio succeeded 
to the dignity of earl. The latter was father 
to Adelm and John, who was father to Hubert 
de Burgo,^ chief justice of England and Earl of 
Kent. He was deprived of his office, judged by 
his peers in full parliament, and degraded, for 
having counselled King Henry III, to annul the 
grand charter and the privileges of his subjects. 
Adelm was father to William, known under the 
name of William Fitz Adelm: he went with 
Henry II to Ireland, who confirmed to him, by 
charter, five military fiefs, in a place called Toth, 



1 Cox is not in accordance with Nichols, respecting the 
descent of William Fitz Adelm. We do not mean to recon- 
cile them : they may be consulted by the reader. 



JOHN JUNIUS BURK. 89 

where the Castle of Canice, at present Castle 
Connel, is situated. He then gave him large 
estates in Connaught, where the whole family 
of the Burkes, his descendants, became settled. 
William de Burgo, Earl of Ulster and chief of 
that family, having been assassinated, in 1333, 
without having any male heirs to succeed to the 
possession of his estates in Connaught, two 
noblemen of his name and famil}' made them- 
selves masters of all his lands in that pro- 
vince and formed two powerful families, dis- 
tinguished by the name of Mac William Eighter 
and Mac William Oughter, a distinction which 
continued for a long time. Their houses pro- 
duced several collateral branches, which gave 
origin to many private families. 

The sept of Burks was honored with four 
peerages, in the persons of Ulj^sses Burke, 
created Earl of Clanricarde, in 1543, by Henry 
VIII, Theobald Burk (commonlj^ called Tibbod 
ne Lung, that is to say, the naval, because he 
was conversant in naval pursuits), who was 
created Viscount of Mayo, in 1627, by Charles 
I, both which titles are still in being. 

There have been also two lord barons in 
12 



90 JOUN JUNIUS BURK. 

the family, namely, Castle Connel and Britta. 
These titles do not exist, at present, in Ireland, 
but are united in the person of N. Burke, captain 
in an Irish regiment, in the service of his most 
Christian Majesty. 

Refer to The History of Ireland, Ancient and 
Modern, taken from the most Authentic Records 
and dedicated to the Irish Brigade, by the 
Abbe Mac Geoghegan, translated from the 
French, by Patrick O'Kelly, Esq., Author of a 
History of the Irish Rebellion, of 1798. Refer 
to page 434, same chapter, and you will find 
several paragraphs — the last referred to, ends 
in these words: "These writers know how to 
change the names and signification of actions; 
they style those, who had betrayed their country, 
faithful subjects, while those who disdained 
slavery and chains, and fought valiantly to pre- 
serve their freedom, are spolven of, by them, as 
rebels." 

It was from the latter gentry that John Daly 
Burk claimed to be a descendant. 

FINIS. 



APPENDIX. 



Extract from a fetter from, Mrs. Attn E. MtDiford, dated 
at Richmond, Va., Feh. 9, 1868. 

John D. Burk married my grandmother, the 
widow of Benjamin Curtis, who had two sons, my 
father, Dr. Henry Curtis of Hanover county, Ya., 
and my uncle, Benjamin, who married a Miss Par- 
sons of Petersburg, and practiced hiw in that city to 
the time of his death. 

Letter from the same Lady. daUid at Richmond, Fehrnary 
21, 1868. 

Ivam sorry not to have it in my power to give 
you more information of my grandmother, but she 
died when my father was quite a child. 

I have heard from others, that she was an ex- 
ceedingly elegant, dignified lady, and was particu- 
larly remarkable for her beautiful hair, which 
swept the floor as she sate in her chair. She died at 
Mr. Hodijah Meade's, in Amelia county, when on her 
way to the Virginia springs, and was buried in his 
family burying-ground. Uncle Junius Burk lived 
with my father for some time after his marriage, 
just before leaving for Louisiana, in which state he 



92 APPENDIX. 

married and practiced law, being many years 
judge and afterwards mayor of the place in which 
he lived. 

He corresponded with my father, occasionally, and 
there were several letters of his with the papers of 
my father, which have been lost in the confusion 
and changes through which we have passed. I 
have never seen uncle Junius, but know, that he 
was a very promising young man, exceedingly 
clever, and have heard my father speak most affec- 
tionately of him. 

Father had in his possession a manuscript copy 
of Mr. Burk's songs, which has also been lost, I am 
sorry to say. 

Aunt Curtis, the widow of uncle Benjamin 
Curtis, would give you the desired information of 
her husband and children by directing a letter to 
Mrs. Eliza L. M. Curtis, Scotland Feck, N. C. 

The letter you speak of having addressed to my 
brother [Armistead Curtis] never reached him, I 
am sure: he left here with his family for Illinois 
early last summer, where I hope they may do very 
well. I have only two brothers, Lini and one other, 
Tyler, who lives in California. My parents had 
eleven children, only five of whom are now living. 

My father was born in Boston, Mass., 18th 
March, 1792: his father left only the two children, 
my father being the younger. 

On the 27th of June, 1813, he married my 
mother, Christiana Booth Tyler, daughter of Judge 
John Tyler and Mary Armistead. She died on the 



APPENDIX. 93 

13th of January, 1842. My father died on the 31st 
of July, 1862. At your request I give the dates 
from the family Bible. 

I am sorry not to know the time of my grand- 
mother's marriage with Mr. Burk, or when they 
came to Richmond, or went to Petersburg. Aunt 
Curtis may be able to communicate more satis- 
factorily. I shall ever regret not asking my father 
more particularly of many events in his life. In 

much haste, 

Yours respectfully, 

Ann Muneord. 



[When the printing of this work was just about 
to be completed, there was received from Miss Burk 
a small dingy pamphlet, containing the following 
oration.] 

An Oration, delioered on the -ith of March, 1803, at the 
Court House, in Petersburg; to Celebrate the Election 
of Thomas Jefferson, and the Triinnph of Repuhlicanism. 
By John D. Burk, Aftonicij at Law. 

Friends and Fellow Citizens : 

When I consider the magnitude and difficulty of 
the undertaking, which your partiality has this day 
devolved on me, an undertaking no less than to 
celebrate in suitable language, (if indeed any lan- 
guage can reach it) the birth of a World, the regene- 
ration of a great and virtuous people : to pursue 
with deliberate and luminous stcj^ the grand career 



94 APPENDIX. 

of the revolution through all its interesting vicissi- 
tudes of courage and defeat, of suffering and magna- 
nimity, until the whole is crowned with independence 
and glory ; and afterwards, when this people had 
lost l)y infatuation, what they had gained by the 
sword, to tell how on the fourth of March, 1801, 
another great victory was atchieved over tyranny by 
the energies of reason — When I reflect that I ought 
to take into calculation not merely the visible eifects 
of those grand events on the world as manifested in 
the improvements in the science of morals and 
government, but that the imagination enlightened 
by ardor and the spirit of prophecy, should be sent 
abroad to rend the curtain, which hides futurity 
from our view, to calculate their effects on distant 
posterity, I feel, I acknowledge my utter incompetence. 
In the first instance, the pride of having been thought 
worthy to execute this task, silenced the suggestions 
of discretion ; but now that the object of this meet- 
ing presents itself full on my viev/, in all its grandeur 
and sublimit)/, I am utterly confounded at my te- 
merity. 

I regret that when precision and order are so 
essential to my subject, I should be so much the 
slave of emotion ; but when I reflect, in the first 
instance, on the courage, the intelligence, the forti- 
tude, the heroism, the love of country, the contempt 
of death ; when I calculate the combination of 
virtues which was necessary to arm America against 
her tyrants : America, a confederacy of colonies 
badly cemented ; England, an empire ancient, vast 



APPENDIX. 95 

and consolidated : America, poor and apparently 
dependant on the mother country for her existence : 
England, rich and grasping at universal domination: 
America, an infant in her cradle; England, an J.^^a5, 
sustaining the world on her shoulders: when I hear 
the shout of onset, and the shock of hattle between 
nations thus disproportioned in strength, the good- 
ness of whose cause was however in an inverse 
ratio with their political importance, I am assailed 
by the mingled sensation of terror and delic/hi — I mix 
with the combatants and" share their interest in the 
battle. And when again I reflect how after his toils 
and his labours, the American Samson, in an hour of 
fatal security, reclined his awful might in the lap 
of the Federal Delilah, I stand in amaze at the mass 
of internal vigour, which he must have exerted on 
the fourth of March to break in sunder the ignomi- 
nious sleep in which his faculties were steeped and 
plunged: and that too, just at the moment when 
the fatal scissors were lifted up, and he was about to 
be shorn of his might by the deceiver and betrayer : 
here indeed is a subject for the moral sublime; and 
cold and insensible must be that heart, wdiich can 
look on it without emotion. 

The discover}^ of this continent by Columbus, the 
declaration of Independence in '76, the acknowledge- 
ment of Independence by the peace of '82, and the 
regeneration of the people on the fourth of March, 
1801, form together a constellation not exceeded 
in brightness by any in the firmament of history. 



96 APPENDIX. 

My discourse then, following the order of events, 
will naturally divide itself into four heads to equal 
the number of those epochs. 

In my mind, it would be impertinent in any age 
like this, when the whole moral atmosphere of the 
world is irradiated with streams of literary glory, to 
go about to prove to Americans that man has rights 
which he inherits from nature ; rights, for which 
he stands not indebted to magistrates or kings, but 
which he received from the great God of the uni- 
verse in the beginning of things, for the comfort for 
the security, of his existence. Amongst those rights, 
those of primary importance (it is equally unneces- 
sary to specity) are, the right to life, to liberty, and to 
jiroperty. By a strange and (I must say) a monstrous 
inversion in the order of those terms, the sophistry 
of tyrants by giving to property, which was the last 
in the natural order, the first place in the order of 
language, had virtual)}' defeated man's title to his 
birth-right : property was every where made the 
base on which tyrants contrived to erect fabrics of 
government : property, a circumstance merely accir 
dental, became the site of a fortress from which they 
were able to overawe and finally to subjugate the 
earth. Hence the origin of oligarchies, aristocracies, 
and monarchies, forms, which government assumed 
according to the caprice of despotism : hence those 
dynasties of calyphs, of sultans, and of emperors, 
which grew and flourished by the extinguishment 
of science and the desolation of the earth. With 
the exception of the Dutch, Helvetic and Genevan 



APPENDIX. 97 

states ; with the exception of two or three republi- 
can atoms in Italy, remnants of the freedom of the 
middle ages; and, with the exce[)tion of that awk- 
ward and unbahinced compound of aristocracy, 
democracy and monarchy in England, there was 
not even the appearance of a free state to be found 
upon the earth; and even in those states the little 
share of libei'ty enjoyed by the people, they were 
unable to procure but by violent struggles; by years 
of war, and oceans of bh)od. Man every where 
groaned in bondage, or poured out his blood in war, 
the wicked and blind instrument of power. The 
old world, was a spacious prison, every corner of 
which was examined with cautious and vigilant 
apprehension by tyrants: there was no hope of 
escape, no place of refuge, and to aggravate this 
various wretchedness, the fruits of the earth de- 
stroyed by the ravages of war, or wasted by the 
wicked prodigality' of courtiers and kings, became 
insufficient to feed the growing population. 

Famine, thai gaunt skeleton, took her place in the long 
and gloomy train of human evils. 

It was at this juncture, when human suffering 
was at its height, that the great Being, who with his 
glance, measures the immensity of space, pointed 
out an asylum to his creatures ; and Columbus was 
charged by the Almighty with the sublime com- 
mission of making the old world acquainted with the 
new. If there be any, who object that Columbus 
had no special inspiration from above, but that the 
general and immutable laws of creation by giving 

13 



98 APPENDIX. 

to man a fiery eneroy^ a danng- spirit of enterprise, 
were of tlioniselves sufficient to bring about this 
event, be it so; I am content; the glory of the 
creator is not diminished by ascribing to his creation 
an original and essential perfection, wliich rendered 
all after interference superfluous. 

To Columbus succeeded an host of adventurers, 
but they were not animated by the same enlarged 
and benevolent views and intentions — set on by the 
lust of dominion and the thirst of gold, wherever 
they touched, ruin and desolation followed; witness 
the cruelties of the Spaniards in Mexico and Peru, 
where millions of Indians were sacrificed at the 
shrine of bigotry and avarice. 

It is the good fortune of the people of those states 
that their fathers were not of the class of mere 
adventurers; exercised in hardships, and seasoned 
by misfortunes, they had acquired an habitual 
hardihood and independence of character, whicli 
enabled them to overcome the difficulties of their 
colonial situation : their own severe afflictions 
taught them humanity, and their attachment to 
liberty forbade them to encroach on the rights of 
others : the lands, which they miglit have seized 
by the sword, were procured by purchase, while 
treaties, on their part, religiously observed, secured 
to them the confidence and respect of the Indians. 

Assembled here from all parts of the old world, 
they forgot the prejudices, which agitated and 
divided their several countries; necessity and a 
sense of common interest drew closer the ties of 



APPENDIX. 99 

friendship, and Aymrica became a grand altar of union 
for the irideb/ dispersed children of men. 

I proceed now to speak of the second grand sera 
in American histor}' ; and in doing* this, I cannot 
forbear noticing another peculiarity, by which the 
American colonists are distinguished from all others. 
They always had rights ; rights, which they always 
exercised ; which they never relinquished, and the 
least encroachment on wdiich, on the part of the 
parent state, they always resisted, always resented. 
Of this curious fact, the most incredulous, the most 
prejudiced will be assured by a reference to the 
history of those colonies : it is there demonstrated 
that various attempts had been made by Britain 
previous to the stamp act, and tax on tea, ])y tech- 
nical niceties, by forced constructions to fritter away 
the spirit of charters and of compacis; and that she 
was in evei-y instance repelled with a spirit becom- 
ing the hardy sons of the forest. 

If those circumstances be duly considered — the 
revolution in those states, will be matter of less 
wonder. It will be regarded as an event necessarily 
o-rowino- out of the temper and habits of the people. 
But setting reason aside, with its coldness and 
precision, and regarding this grand spectacle as it 
loarmly, forcibli/, as it sublimely impresses the senses : 
what imagination is there so languid, not to con- 
template it with awe: what heart so cold, so insensi- 
ble that does not glow with transport, throb with 
anguish, that does not tremble with expectation, as 
it successively unfolds its great, its eventful incidents 



100 APPENDIX. 

to the view. In 76 England after a long and glori- 
ous war, through the former part of wliich slie had 
been conducted by the genius of Wiiham Pitt, 
found herself in profound peace. She was in the 
zenith of her power, and may not inaptly be com- 
pared to a vast colossus, ivith a foot resting on either 
hemisphere, holding in one hand a sceptre of Iron, ivith 
which, under the NAME of GOVRENMENT, she 
crushed the inhabitants of InD; while her other hand, 
outstretched over those states, scattered, showered down 
acts of Parliament, lohich left the people no aliernatice 
hut slavery or resistance : the other nations of the old 
world smarting under the lash of recent defeat or awed 
by her ascendance, were held in subjection by her glance. 
The spectacle of a tyranny like this, so vast, so impos- 
ing, so authoritative, so terrific, so unjust, as might 
be naturally expected, filled this continent with 
mourning and apprehension : but the people did 
not despair; they spake not, they thought not of 
submission. By petitions sincere and respectful, 
they sought to soften, to touch the heart of their 
unnatural parent: by remonstrances, bold, manly, 
and argumentative, they laboured to carry to her 
reason, conviction of her impolicy, of her injustice : 
but tyranny is blind ; tyranny is unrelenting. The 
petitions and remonstrances were rejected with con- 
tempt: the former alternative was again proposed 
with renewed harshness and contumely, the only 
answer with which Britain condescended to honor 
our remonstrance was the ultima ratio regum. This, 
by the bye, is not the last, only, it is the first, the 



APPENDIX. 101 

last, it is indeed the ouly reasoning of kings: so 
much easier is it to ravage a country, and murder 
its inhabitants than it is to convince them that such 
conduct is moral or beneficial. 

Let us now jnmse — let us imagine what in this 
eventful, this terrific crisis, was the conduct, the 
deportment of America — so curiously organized is 
the human mind that though we all know the event 
of this contest; although every object we see; 
although the day, the meeting itself, bring fresh to 
our minds, numerous, glorious proofs of the result; 
toe are, notwithstanding, held by a sort of magic, in an 
agony of suspence, till description has moored safe from 
quicksands, and storms, the vessel of the state in the haven 
of Independence. 

The British minister, like Brennus, held in his 
hand the balance with which he weighed out the 
terms of submission ; and like him too, when re- 
monstrated with on his fraudulent attempt to kick 
the "^beam, he replied with the same barbarous 
brevity " that the only portion of the vanquished 
was to suffer." Did America bow to the tyranny 
she despaired of being able to combat ; did she 
coldly calculate the consequences of a contest with a 
power, compared with whom, in the ordinary scale 
of computation, she was but an atom ; did she 
attempt to ward off the threatening danger by any 
compromise inconsistent with her glory ? 

Had she acted in either of those modes, we had 
not been assembled here this da}^ to celebrate the 
anniversary of American happiness, of American 



102 AI'J'ILXJJIX. 

regeneration. To God alone Ib known, what posi- 
tion eaeh of us had occupied in a different order of 
things; but for myself 1 will speak without hesi- 
tation ; had I been an American during this contest, 
and the result had been different from what it is, 
could I have found liberty no where else, I 'had 
sought it in the woods. I thank God however this 
case is merely hypothetical : the virtue of our 
fathers, the vigilance and intelligence of their de- 
scendants have happily given us a chance of enjoy- 
ing liberty in society. 

But let us return to the question. How did 
America act at this juncture? Finding the heart of 
her tyrant steeled against the voice of nature, and 
the suggestions of reason, leaving all inferior tribu- 
nals, she solemnly appealed to the God of Battles, and 
the ri()h.l hands of her people. 

Then was seen the sublime spectacle of thousands 
of warriors, with a thousand various weapons, issu- 
ing from their forests, or descending like torrents 
from their mountains, at the call of their country. 
I see the heroic yeomen in white frocks engaged at 
Lexington and the British retiring. 

There, a mother supports the head of her expiring 
son; /t<?;T, a maiden hanging over his pale corpse, 
in speechless agony, weeps foi' her betrothed — he 
j)erished in her sight ; but his death was glorious: 
he die<l for his country. 

My inuigination follows tlie step of freedom to 
Bnnker riill. Behinrl a breast-wf)rk of earth re- 
cently and hastily thrown up, the pati'iots are 



APPENDIX. 103 

posted : — their heads sometimes appear above the 
parapet — a profound silence reigns amongst them — 
the British, under cover of a furious cannonade, and 
animated by military music, ascend the hill with 
the mechanical step of veteran precision — they now 
approach the entrenchments — Why do not the 
Americans tire? Has their courage failed them? 
Ilaye they concluded on submission? — They are 
still buried in silence — But it is the silence of ^Etna or 
Vesuvius, ere they roll their lava on the devoted habitations 
of men. A food of fire bursts from every part of the 
entrenchments. The order of Britain is broken. Her 
squadrons, as if swept away by whirlioind, disappear. 
They rally again, it is true, and take possession of 
the works relinquished by the patriots : but this 
battle had all the consequences of a defeat, and 
whilst pride is weaving a wreath for her brow, Britannia 
is watering the sickly leaf with her tears. 

Columbia too weeps for \\cv Warren, who on this 
hilk poured out his blood for his country: but her 
laurel is freshened by her tears, for they are tears of 
gratitude and love, and the memory of her hero is 
embalmed in those tears. 

Washington now joins the army, and discipline 
and order follow. The hero stands on the heights 
of Dorchester — his hand is on his forehead, and he 
appears planning some enterprise. The American 
colours carry consternation to the army in Boston ; 
and the fleet, trembling for its safety, removes to a 
respectful distance, andtinally the town is evacuated. 



104 M'PENDIX. 

and their boasted armada and tLeir redoubtable 
army disappear. 

The deplorable condition of the Republican army, 
in the Jerseys, next engages our attention and 
sympathy. 

Those poor fellows, on whose swords hung the 
fate of liberty, were in want of everything. 

Without clothes, and often without food ; obliged 
occasionally to fight and retire before superior 
numbers, their patriotism, their constancy, did not 
for. a moment desert them. The rout of iJds handful 
of heroes is tracked by the blood, whicli streamed from 
their naked and lacerated feet : the British are close in 
their rear, and escape appears impossible. The 
genius of liberty hangs her head, and almost de- 
spairs of the Republic. 

Trenton, Princetown, Quebec, Saratoga, Cowpens, 
Yorktown, deathless names ! how shall I do justice 
to your fame. Although my zeal is untired, my 
time is limited, and I sink under the emotions ex- 
cited by your glories. I find, however, consolation 
for my incompetence, by reflecting on your claims 
to immortalitN' : you have furnished abundant matter 
for the Painter, the Historian and the Poet: more 
durable than monuments of brass, or than the Pyra- 
mids of Egypt ; while those stupendous monuments 
of human force and human folly shall have long 
crumbled into dust, your riames shall sail forever 
down the stream of time, ever young, fresh and 
immortal. 

The acknowledgment of independence by the 



APPENDIX. 105 

peace of '82 forms the third grand epoch in Ameri- 
can history. This ^Era had its rise in the love of 
liberty, which every wliere prevailed, and in the 
painful and constant sacrifices of the people. By 
this event, the principles of eternal jnstice were con- 
secrated in the hearts of three millions of human 
beings, while at the same time, a glorious example 
was held out to the oppressed in every quarter of 
the globe. Now for the lirst time, under the mild 
influence of peace, and in the free and absolute en- 
joyment of liberty, the natural character began 
gradually to unfold itself: local prejudices, gene- 
rated by the division of territory into separate 
sovereignties, were rapidly giving way to national 
pride, and to American feelings, while the sciences 
and those liberal arts, which soften and humanize 
our nature, but which invariably fly the fetters of 
the slave and the wild uproar of arms, now ventured 
to make their appearance in the mild beams of 
peaxie. But though independence was atchieved, 
liberty was not yet in safety; doubts seemed to 
prevail, of the competence of the old confederation 
to secure the blessings it had created, and after a 
long and animated discussion, which nearly divided 
the people, our present happy constitution was 
established. The moment this instrument was 
sanctioned by the votes, of the necessary miijority 
of states, its opponents generously withdrew all 
opposition, and cheerfully united in giving it eftect, 
and carrying it into operation ; but it must not be 
concealed, that during the debates in convention on 
14 



106 APPENDIX. 

the merits of this instrument, opinions of liis^h 
aristocratic tendency were artfully introduced by 
characters of fortune and influence ; and it is equally 
clear, that from this constitution we ought to date 
the birth of a party, which, though baffled in its 
attempts to establish its favorite principles of govern- 
ment in convention, carried those principles with 
them into society, and that acting in concert, they 
artfully and industriously disseminated their perni- 
cious doctrines amongst the people. Thus convert- 
ing the confidence reposed in them by reason of 
their revolutionary services, into a means of esta- 
blishing an aristocracy in their own persons, by the 
sacrifice of the people on the ruins of the throne. 

Observing the profound cunning, the impene- 
trable reserve, the daring and at the same time 
mysterious projects of the followers of Ignatius 
Loyola, they were found acting in all places at the 
same moment from the chair of the President, where 
like the serpent at the ear of Eve they sat distilling 
their poison, through all the offices, where they 
contrived to get themselves appointed, down to the 
town meeting where they made themselves hoarse 
by haranguing in favor of strong government against 
equality and anti-federalism. The power of this 
party was at this time swelled to an alarming amount 
by a host of refugees to whom the magnanimous 
moderation of America had afforded an amnesty, 
and l)y swarms of British clerks, factors and agents 
with which Britain, who had now again extensively 
established her commercial connections, inundated 



APPENDIX. 107 

our seaports. The plans of this party received a 
momentary check and derangement from the revo- 
hition in France: it was a phenomenon, which they 
contemphited with astonishment; but which they 
were utterly unable to comprehend : an object so 
vast, so full of sublimity, so well calculated to excite 
our sympathy and kindle our enthusiasm by the 
similarity of its principles to those of our own 
revolution, and now alas ! so well calculated to 
excite our regret by the reflection that this great 
people, had only escaped the jaws of the lion, to be 
devoured at last by the wolf of usurpation, was not to 
be openly attacked. The dagger was uplifted ; but 
this was not the moment to strike. They aifected 
to feel the general sentiment of joy on the occasion, 
in order to give the greater effect to their hostility. 
The British cabinet, which appeared to be fully 
sensible of the existence and views of this party, 
issued orders for seizing American property on the 
ocean, and the treaty of London, which was the end 
proposed to herself by England, in those spoiliations 
laid the foundation of our disputes with France, 
while it at the same time enabled this party, under 
pretence of guarding against France and of pre- 
serving internal quiet, to cloth itself with new and 
alarming powers. The resignation of the venerable 
chief, whose genius like a pillar of fire, led us thro' 
the night of our ditficulties, and whose whole life 
was checkered by but one fatal mistake, and the 
election of a man, who wrote three volumes to prove 
the superiority of a government composed of nobles 



108 A/'J'h\\/)/X. 

and a king, decided the victory in favor of this 
faction, and the advocates of royalty became the 
masters of the Republic. 

In the commencement of tliis administration, but 
a small majority appeared in its favour, and conti- 
dence, in the language of metaphor, called with 
peculiar propriety, a plant of slow growth, was 
reposed in it with a sparing Inmd and //ww/ liberality : 
but it was a ball of snow, which grew in its 
progress, and the peculiar circumstances of the 
empire just at that moment, with respect to France, 
enabled them, by addressing themselves to the 
ruling passion of the people, by alarming their pride 
and their prejudices, to establish their empire over 
the hearts of a considerable majority. France, rob- 
bing us on the ocean ; France, haughtily and 
contumelionsly treating our ambassadors, were 
ideas of less complexity than the more remote and 
abstracted consideration of France lighting for 
liberty against kings ; of France, insulted and de- 
ceived by the treaty of London : The disposition 
generally prevailing to believe ourselves in the right, 
decided the question, and we became true and 
zealous federalists ; but the people at length saw a 
constant and anxious disposition in the government 
to enlarge its powers by forced and arbitrary con- 
structions : the attempt at a large military force, 
the Alien and Sedition laws, with the various 
prosecutions on the part of the government for libel, 
gave certainty to those suspicions. 

From this moment the mask was laid aside. The 



APPENDIX. 109 

■patience and mystery and cunning by which they 
had consummated their projects, were exchanged 
for the insolence of triumph and the arrogance of 
tyranny. 

They were enraged that the people, whom they 
foolishly fancied reduced to the lot and satisiied 
with the condition of slavery, dared to examine 
their measures. 

To detail the various acts of folly and phrenzy, 
which distinguished this administration from all 
others, would far transcend the just limits of a dis- 
course Hke the present : moreover the recital could 
not fail of tiring by its sameness, and disgusting by 
its folly ; some of the acts will never go down to 
posterity; I instance the case of Luther Baldwin, 
because the decency and gravity of the historian 
will not condescend to notice them. It will suffice 
then on the present occasion, to present a few of the 
most prominent. 

"fhey openly advocated a monarchical form of 
government. 

They dared to threaten the good people of this 
state, with the disgraceful humiliation of " dust and 

ashes." 

They had the insolence to talk of transporting 
the republican citizens of Jersey, as though they 
had been felons or slaves, within the lines of the 
invading enemy. 

They excluded from office, all the friends to a 
republican form of government. 



110 APPENDIX. 

They borrowed money at an exorbitant interest 
in times of profound peace. 

They enacted taxes odious and oppressive, for 
the purpose of defending their tyranny by merce- 
nary soldiers, at a time when the Republic had 
more than one million of her children able and 
willing to draw their swords in her defence. 

They openly violated the constitution : by an 
Alien law, which declared war against the growth, 
population, faith and revenues of the Republic; by 
a sedition law, which struck at the root of freedom 
by denying to the people the right to canvass the 
conduct of their servants. 

They sought to plunge us into a war for the pur- 
pose of perpetuating their authority. 

They packed juries for the purpose of insuring 
the condemnation of the objects of executive resent- 
ment. 

They immured in dungeons, the victims of the 
Sedition law. 

But the measure of oppression was full, the delu- 
sion of the people at an end ; they looked round, 
and were astonished at their infatuation : the artil- 
lery of the press, directed by skilful engineers, 
thundered against the tottering edifice of Aristocracy, 
the people lifted their voice and the dome rent in 
sunder by the shout, tumbled in ruins on the heads 
of its architects. From this moment a new order 
of things arose. 

The fourth grand Epoch rises to my view in the 
unclouded majesty of the morning: a sage, long 



APPENDIX. Ill 

practised in virtue, and whose soul was animated 
by a larger share of the fetherial tire, was called on 
to repair the mischiefs which his predecessor had 
occasioned; Thomas Jefferson, the anthor of the 
declaration of Independence, the energetic champion 
of the moral and physical productions of his coun- 
try against the precipitate charges of Raynal and 
BufFon ; Thomas Jefferson, whose name associates 
a boundless range of deep and elegant knowledge, 
of active benevolence and glowing philanthropy, 
w^as chosen to succeed the eulogist of the British 
form of government; the pretended defender of the 
American constitutions. 

I turn with disgust from those times of frantic 
tyranny to repose my weary and indignant spirit on 
characters rich in every great and noble qualifica- 
tion : my imagination hastens with gladness from 
this dreary and comfortless midnight to sport itself 
in the solar beam of freedom; to taste the sweet- 
ness and fragrance of Elysiam : The living visions 
of the poets are embodied in ray sight : I feel they 
are not empty blessings which they had promised us 
in their immortal songs. 

Sacred sinriis, who in the midst of dungeons and 
of chains, attuned your harps in praise of heaven- 
born liberty, look down on our Republic and rejoice. 
The unaffected simplicity and sanctity of primeval 
manners is realized in the conduct of our governors ; 
our people enjoy the plenty and security of the 
golden age. The reforming spirit, which has pro- 
duced those blessings, is still in motion : he treads 



112 APPENDIX. 

with the firm step of philosophy in his tour over the 
earth, t<hahw(j (luvnes, cmd elcctrifi/ing vaiioiis. His 
step is slow, because he has incessantly to combat 
the obstinacy of ignorance and the intolerance of 
superstition ; but he holds on liis way in a regular 
and steady pace, directed by the Torch of science. 

Avauni, then you dull and antiquated Sophists, 
who pretend to examine the energies of mind by 
the test of an exploded and unnatural logic; who 
ridicule the fascinating theories and speculations of 
genius as the dreams of disease or the vapours of in- 
sanity ; who attempt to stigmatise the progressive 
swell and energy of soul by the reproachful 
epithet of the new philosophy imitating closely in 
this respect, your predecessors in Physical mistake, 
who opposed the vortices of Descartes and the falla- 
cious analogies of Liebnitz to the solid geometrical 
conclusions, the rational and sublime harmonies of 
Newton, 

Avaunt — to your schools and your cloisters : there 
shroud yourselves in mystery and mutter your 
jargon : adore the institutes and science of the dark 
ages as the most stupendous efforts of human in- 
vention, kiss with trembling devotion, the dust of 
antiquity ; abhor the improvements arising from 
the adventurous spirit of the age, as the works of 
the evil spirit. To your schools and your cloisters ! 
make way for the children of libertj' and science. 
Let us enjoy the light of the Sun, and the bounty of 
Heaven ; let us pursue, with patient step and adven- 
turous ardor, the secrets of nature well assured, the 



APPENDIX. 113 

more intimately we become acquainted witli the 
mysteries of tiiis sublime fabric of our universe, 
the higher will be raised our admiration and respect 
for its divine author. 

Let us then fellow citizens, on a day like this, 
dear to freedom and interesting to humanity; let us 
establish a grand altar of covenant and union. I ask 
you, in the name of the living God, to lay down at 
this meeting, before we part, those absurd and 
senseless distinctions of sects, which by interrupting 
the tranquillity of society, impede the march of mind 
and the progress of civilization. 

We are All Federalists, All Republicans : let us then 
break in pieces our idols, and laying our hands 
with pure and sincere hearts upon the altar, unite 
in the worship of the true God. 

We belong to the only portion of society, on the 
many peopled .globe, which eujoys the inestimable 
privilege of self government : shall we not then 
unite to preserve this blessing inviolate, and trans- 
mit it unimpaired to our children. Alas ! Ameri- 
cans, and you, respectable inhabitants of England, 
of Scotland and of Ireland, who differ with me in 
opinion, but who are not the less valued by me on 
that account, what is there in the expensive and 
soul-depressing S3^stem of royalty to recommend it to 
your affections ; what in the vain and empty cere- 
monials of nobility ? Here, your honest pride and 
industry are not insulted by the impudent preten- 
sions of privileged classes ; no unnatural disqualifi- 
cations stand in your way to honor and to office ; 
15 



114 APPENDIX. 

the People here are every thing ; Princes and Peers, 
nothing. 

PrincL'S and Peci's may perish or may fade, 
A breatli cau make tliem, as a breath has made, 
But a hf)kl Yi'omroiry, the nation's jjride, 
If once destroyed, can never he sup])Ued. 

Let us then withdraw our affections from a race 
of kings and families of nobles to whom we owe 
nothing; but, who stand indebted to us and to our 
fathers in a thousand services ; let us unite in carry- 
ing high as the frailty of mortal circumstances will 
admit, the destinies of this great country, which 
adopts us. We are in a vast majority, yet, we ask 
you in the true spirit of conciliation to unite with 
us ; it will be then matter of little consequence 
whether it be the intendant at New Orleans, or his 
most Catholic majesty, or the first Consul of France, 
that has dared to rob us of a right, which we derive 
from the letter of treaties and the bounty of nature : 
as it is, the administration has but to speak, and the 
haughty despots of Europe however denominated ; 
Kings, Emperors or Consuls, will be taught a lesson 
in the American wilderness, which, however morti- 
fying it may be to their pride and their ambition, 
will be useful to their subjects and the world. 
Americans, approach this altar; it is the work of 
your own hands : natives of Europe lay your hands 
on it, it adojAs and will protect you ; fair daughters of 
America, set the example, truth in its most rugged 
garb, is respectable, but when it assumes the form of 
a woman it is irresistible. 



APPENDIX. 115 

Let US liail with acclamations this day of our 
safety, this day of our union; and until the going 
down of the Sun, let us make the air vocal, and the 
hills, which overlook our town, respond to the soul 
exalting sounds of, Jefferson and Union, Jeferson and 
Liberty, unfading be the principles which triumphed 
on this day, eternal be the Eepublic. 



[The following was received after the foregoing 
had been printed.] 

Laffer from B. II. Smith, Jr. 

Mr. Charles Campbell, Petersburg, 

Dear Sir : At the request of my aunt, Mrs. Cur- 
tis, I write to say, that sickness has prevented 
her from answering your letter of 28th Feb. She 
had the misfortune to lose her family Bible, during 
the late war, and cannot give you the exact day of 
births and deaths requested. 

Her husband, Benj. Curtis, was born Jan., 1790; 
married Miss E. L. M. Parsons, April 12th, 1810. 
Edward Tabb Curtis, son of Elizabeth and Benj. 
Curtis, born March 11th, 1811; died Sept. 14th, 
1812. Marion Curtis, daughter of E. L. M. and 
Benj. Curtis, born Feb. 8th, 1813; died Oct., 1827. 
Benj. William Curtis, son of E. L. M. and Benj. 
Curtis, born Oct. 17th, 1816. 

Benj. Curtis, husband of E. L. M. Curtis, died 
Dec, 1819. 



116 APPENDIX. 

Junius l)urk, after the death of his father, was 
adopted by Thomas BolHng Robertson of Peters- 
burg, placed in his father's family, in Richmond ; 
continued there until the marriage of Benj. Curtis 
with Miss E. L. M. Parsons. He then resided with 
them, until the death of Mr. Curtis. Mrs. Curtis's 
brother, Junius Burk, kept a school in Prince 
George county 13'^a.], for a short time ; was sum- 
moned to Louisiana by his former protector, who 
was governor of Louisiana, Mr. Robertson. After 
the lapse of a few years, he wrote that he had mar- 
ried a French girl, out there. Since then Mrs. 
Curtis has heard nothing from him, until she saw 
in the papers herein inclosed that he was still living, 
a judge in Louisiana, residing at Baton Rouge. 

My aunt is in such feeble health, that she has 
forgotten a great deal that would be interesting. 
She begs to refer to "Moratock;" but I presume 
the papers have met your eyes ere this. 

With much respect, I am yours, &c., 

B. H. Smitu, Jr. 



INDEX. 



Adams, Jolin, Burk apprehends danger from, 12 ; condemns Burk's 
character of Gen. Warren, 14 ; snppressed History of admin- 
istration of, 15. 

Allen's Biographical Dictionary, notice of Burk's History of Vir- 
ginia, 41 ; name wrongly j)rinted, 41 . 

Allibone, Dictionary of Authors, notice of Burk, 43. 

American Star, by McCreery, 44. 

Ancient and Modern Music of Ireland, 30. 

Appleton's Cyclopedia of Biography, notice of Burk, 32, 40. 

Appleton's New American Cyclopedia, notice of Bui'k, 40 ; erratum, 
Burk's Hill for Bunker Hill, 41. 

Archer, Allen, 50. 

Atkinson, Dr. Thomas P., 31 ; his reminiscences of Btirk, 43, 48. 



Bailey, comedian, 46. 

Banister, John M., 44, 47, 64. 

Banister, T. B., 44, 64. 

Barrett, comedian, in character of Gen. "S^^irren, 14. 

Baton Rouge, residence of J. J. Burk, 71 ; resolutions of members (jf 

the bar, 73. 
Bell, Robert, p^^blishes the tragedy of Montgomery, and an ode by 

Burk, 39, 40. 
Bells & McNae, 48. 
Berlin and Milan decrees, 47. 
Bethlem Gabor, drama by Burk, 32, 42, 45, 74. 
Beverley's History of Virginia, iv. 
Borne, Christiana, 13. 
Boston, Burk edits paper at, 19. 

Boston Chronicle, Centinel and INIercury attack Burk, 26. 
British Plantations in America, Keith's History of, v. 



118 INDEX. 

Buckingliam's Reiuiniscences, Burk edits Polar Star, 19 ; descrip- 
tion of the Star, 20 ; editor's address, 21 ; course on presiden- 
tial election, 22 ; views of European affairs, 23 ; conduct of 
Star, 24, 25 ; Burk's trial at University of Dublin, 25, 26 ; 
course of Boston editors toward tlie Star, 26 ; the Star boasts 
of its success, 27 ; project of weekly paper, 29 ; the Star dis- 
continued, 29. 

Bunker Hill, a tragedy by Burk, 14, 29, ?>2, 42. 

Burk, Alexandrine, wife of J. J. Burk, 77, 80. 

Burk, John Daly, Green suggests a memoir of, 7 ; early life, i)laced 
at Trinity College, Dublin, ])rivate marriage, joins United 
Irishmen, 9, 10 ; attempts rescue of rebel, pursued by police, 
escapes and comes to America about 1796, 11, 32 ; edits Time- 
Piece, 15 ; edits Polar Star, 19, 26 ; career at Boston and New 
York, 19, 41 ; removes to Virginia, 12 ; settles at Petersburg, 
and writes History of Virginia, 89 ; writes History of late War 
in Ireland, 40; writes tragedy of death of Gen. Montgomery, 
39, 42 ; writes ode in honor of Pennsylvania militia, 39 ; list 
of his works, 42 ; captain of a Petersbiu'g rifle com])any, 43 ; 
his api)(>arance, manners, and associates, 43, 44 ; writes Joan 
of Arc, 42 ; his songs, 44 ; personates characters on tlie stage, 
45, 46 ; notices of his History of Virginia, 32, 33, 40, 41, 43, 67 ; 
advertisement of 4th volume, 33 ; his oration, 44, 93 ; falls in a 
duel, 48 ; funeral, 50 ; obituaries, 54 ; vnW, 62 ; genealogy, 88. 

Burk, Judge John Junius, 7 ; death of his \^^dow, 8 ; his remarks on 
Adams's critique, 14 ; recollection of his father's duel, 49 ; a 
legatee, 62, 65 ; anecdotes of, 81 ; obituary, 71 ; resolutions 
in honor of, 73 ; sketch of, 74 ; sketch of life and (character, 71, 
80 ; resided \\\\\\ Dr. Henry Curtis, 91 ; adopted by T. B. Ro- 
bertscm, 116. 

Burk, Miss Junia A., 7 ; letters from, 9,74, 81. 

Burk, Thomas, 87. 

Burk, William, 19. 

Burke, origin of name, 88; sept of, houort'd with four peerages, 89. 

Byrd, Ursula, daughter of William of Westover, iv ; Journal, v. 



Campbell's Bridge, 41, 48, 49. 
Cedar Grove, 56. 
Chalmers's Political Annals, \ 
Chiu'chill, ode on duel, 57. 



INDEX. 119 

Clare, coniediau, 46. 

Coqiiebcrt, Felix, 15 ; his altercation with Burk, 32, 41, 48, 56, 59 ; 

his appearance, 44 ; challenges Bm'k, 48, 57, 60 ; kills him in a 

duel, 48, 49, 55, 57. 
Curtis, Arniistead, 92. 
Curtis, Benjamin, 10, 40, 47, 74, 91, 115 ; publishes account of 

Burk's duel, 61 ; a leg-atee, 62 ; do. of Elizabeth Swail, 65, 66. 
Curtis, Mrs. Christiana, 10, 13, 91. 
Curtis, Dr. Henry, 10, 62, 74, 91. 
Curtis family record, 115. 



Daly, Miss, rescues Biu-k, 11. 

Davis, John, author of romance, 49 ; monody on Burk's grave, 51, 52. 

De Bourk, or De Burgo, family of, 88. 

Dickson & Pescird pubhsh 2d edition, vol. I, History of Virginia, 38. 

Dickson, J., 45. 

Dollar Newspaper, 15. 

Dublin Evening Post, 25. 

Duel between Burk and Coquebert, 32, 48. 

Dvinlop, David, 46. 

Dunlop, History of the American Theatre, 41. 

Dunnavant, M. W., 33. 



Edwards, J. L., 46. 
Edwards, L., 46. 
Eppes, Daniel, 44. 



Female Patriotism, drama by Burk, 42. 

Fitz Adelm, William, 88. 

Fitzwhylson, bookseller, 38. 

Fleet's Hill, 49. 

Fortunes of Argil, drama by Burk, 42. 

Funeral procession, Burk's, 50. 



Genealogy of Burk, 88. 
Gilmour, William, ()6. 



120 INDEX. 

Girardin, Louis Hue, coutiiiuator of Burk's History, 33, 34 ; his 
volume destroyed by fire, 39, 42 ; prepared material for another 
volume, 38, 43. 

Grahame, author Colonial History, United States, notice of Burk, 42. 

Grammer, J., clerk of court, 04, 60. 

Green, William, on Stith's History, v ; contemplated a memoir of 
Burk, 7. 

Green, tragedian, 40. 

Gribelin's engravings, iv. 



Hall, Everard, comed3% 47 ; Dr. Isaac, 47. 

Heckman manuscripts, v. 

History of Ireland by MacGeoghegan, 87, 90. 

Herron, Major Andrew S., 77. 

Hopkins, comic actor, 45, 46. 



Innkeeper of Abbeville, drama by Burk, 42. 

Introduction, 7. ' 

Ireland, Ancient and Modern Music of, 30. 

Irish Melodies, suggested by McCreery, 31. 

Irish Songs, historical essay on the character and anticpiity of, 31. 

Irishmen, United, 10, 40, 44. 



Jefferson, his historical collection used by Girardin, 36. 

Joan of Arc, drama by Burk, 42. 

Jones, Gen. Joseph, 50, 56. 

Jones, Roger A., 44, 63, 04. 

Jones, Skelton, a continuator of Burk's History of Virginia, 33, 39 : 

with J. McCreery ])roi)Oses to ])ublisli the Music of Ireland, 30 : 

edits a newspaper, 38 ; falls in a duel, 33. 



Keith, Sir William, governor of Pennsylvania, v. 
Kent, Capt. Charles, 48. 



LeBlanc, O. M., 74. 
Lenioine, John E., 47. 



INDEX. 121 



Ijontlon Company, records of, v. 

Lvnchburo- Star, notice ofBurk's historv, 67. 



McC'reery, John, one of the United Irishmen, 44 ; his collection of 
Irisli Music contains songs of Burk, 14 ; proposes to ])ublish 
Ancient and Modern Music of Ireland, 30, 44. 

Mac Geoghegan, Abbe, 87, 90. 

Mcllwaine, A. G., Sr., 50. 

McKenzie, comedian, 45, 46. 

McNae, second to Burk, 48. 

MacWilliam, Eighter and Oughter, 89. 

Martin, Alexander, prints Polar Star, 19. 

Meade, Hodijah, 91. 

Millette, Margaret Alexandrine, 77, 80. 

Miller, Morris, 44. 

Montgomery, Death of, play byBurk, 39. 

Moore, Thomas, the poet, 31. 

Morrell's Catalogue, notice of Bnrk's works. 39. 

Munford, Mrs. Ann E., letter from, 91. 



Nolens Volens, comedy, 47. 



Obituary of J. D. Burk, 54. 

Obituary of Judge John J. Burk, 71. 

Ode, by Churchill, 57. 

O'Kelly, translator MacGeoghegan's History of Ireland, 87, 90. 

Olive Hill, 49. 

Oration of J. 1). Burk, 31, 93. 



Parsons, Miss E. L. M., 115, 116. 
Petersl)urg Gaz(!tte, 13. 
Petersburg Index, 31. 

Petersburg Republican, 33 ; extract from, 57. 
Petersburg theatre, descripti(Hi of, 46. 
Petersburg Thespian Society, 45, 46. 
Phenix Hall, 47. 
PhicLde, comedian, 4(i. 

16 



122 INDEX. 

Pocahontas, romance of, 49. 

Polar Star and Boston Daily Advertiser, 19, 26. 

Port Folio, Davis's Monody published in, 51, 52. 

Posey, Reuben T., 74. 

Powell's tavern, 47. 



Randoli)h, John, of Roanoke, v ; friend of Burk, 88. 

Randolph, Sir John, v. 

R(»cord of the Boston stage, 14. 

Richmond Enquirer, 30, 81 ; Burk a c()ntril)utor to, 88. 

Robertson, Thomas Boiling-, friend of Burk, 44, 02, U4 ; governor of 

Louisiana, 75, 76 ; William, 63 ; adopts Junius Burk, 116, 
Robinson, Dr. Thomas, biographical skt'tch of, 31. 
Rutherford, comedian, 46. 



Sandford, comedian, 46. 

Smith, B. H., Jr., letter from, 116. 

Smith, General History of Virginia, iii. 

Smith, Dr. James, editcn- of Time-Piece, 15. 

Somervell & Conrad, publishers, 45. 

Spotswood, governor of Virginia, v. 

Stainback, Mr., 46. 

Star Si)angled Banner, its rival, 44. 

Stith, History of Virginia, iii, iv. 

Stith, Townsend, 44, 46, 62, 64. 

Swail, Elizabeth, 47, 49 ; her will, 65 ; Valentine, ()5 ; Jane, 65. 



Tlleat^e of Petersburg, 46. 

Thesi)ian Society of Petersburg, 45, 46. 

Thweatt, R. N., second to J. D. Burk, 48 ; arranges the duel, 61. 

Time Piece, newspaper, edited by Burk, 15, 16, 30. 

Trinity College, Dublin, Burk student at, 10, 16, 40 ; tried by board 

of, and expelled from, 26. 
Tyler, Christiana Booth, 92. 
Tvlcr John, 9, 92. 



rnitcd IrisliiinMi. Hurk joins, 10. 



INDEX. 123 

Viro-iuia, Histoiy of, a desideratum, iii ; Smith's History of, iii ; 
Stith's do., iv ; Beverley's do., iv ; Keitli's do., v; Burk's do., 
vi, 33, 39 ; Henniug's Statutes at Large, v ; Burk's History 
continued by Jones and Girardin, 33. 



War in Ireland, Burk's History of, 40. 

Warrell, Mr., 46. 

Warren, Gen., liis chai'acter by Jolm Adams, 14. 

West, Mrs., actress, 46 ; Nanette, 46. 

Which do you like best, the Poor Man or the Lord, drama by 

Burk, 43. 
Will of Burk, 63, 63. 
William and Mary College, 7o. 
Wood, John, author of History of John Adams's administration, 

15. 






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